Deku becomes human
by Radiklement
Summary: A vigilante hero at night, Bakugo must deal with the unique android-guardian his parents imposed on him by day. Calling it Deku due to its uncanny resemblance to his deceased childhood friend, Bakugo soon realizes he's falling for the nerdy robot. Falling hard. Deku is more than willing and it doesn't help his conflicted master in the slightest.
1. Chapter 1

A vigilante hero at night, Bakugo must deal with the unique android-guardian his parents imposed on him by day. Calling it Deku due to its uncanny resemblance to his deceased childhood friend, Bakugo soon realizes he's falling for the nerdy robot. Falling hard. Deku is more than willing and it doesn't help his conflicted master in the slightest.

AU that puts Boku No Hero Academia in the setting of Detroit become humans. Human people still have quirks. Deku is a man-made android. No need to know Detroit become human to read this, the only characters in this are from Hero Academia. Cyberlife is the company developing the androids.

Pairing: BakuDeku (potential and very light other pairings in the background)

Rated M for swearing, eventual smut, violence, uncomfortable imagery and abuse – both domestic and past abuse-.

Flashbacks are in Italic.

Any text appearing between :: :: is Deku's analyzing procedure.

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Deku becomes human

Chapter 1 - Trash robot will take your command now, sir!

" _It says Authorized Personnel only, Kacchan!"_

 _Their legs were short, both kids panting from running too much. Bakugo knew it would be hard to get over the fence, but he could use small consecutive explosions to throw himself in the air now. He'd trained in every park and even with a few buildings and he could get over one floor high before his arms would start to ache._

" _Who cares? I heard something suspicious about this place and a hero would investigate, wouldn't he?"_

 _His father had actually let it slip that the local disaffected Cyberlife lab might have become the base of a small criminal organization and Bakugo had seen it as his chance to take a first step on the path of becoming a hero. He was strong. Stronger than the fifth-grade boy that had tried beating him up for looking too defiant to his taste, stronger than the teachers, even stronger than his mom._

 _He rubbed at his nose, cursing against the cold weather, eyeing his green-haired friend who was sneezing into his sleeve._

" _You too chicken to follow?" he taunted him._

 _Izuku's eyes glared at him with hurt pride and what Bakugo was starting to recognize as the boy's own determination. He might be quirkless, but Deku never backed down from a challenge. Lighting a spark with a snap of his fingers, Bakugo leapt into the air._

" _They'll hear you!" Izuku warned._

" _No way!"_

 _His explosions were small, they weren't exactly controlled yet but he was managing just fine. His left arm ached first as the next explosion swallowed too much air and his face was hitting the metal fence before he could compensate the sudden push._

" _Kacchan!" Deku called out._

 _The metal wires scratched at his skin, his nose feeling like it was being pulled off as he desperately grabbed for some hold, catching himself with one hand and both feet, his whole frame shaking from the sudden fright. A small hand touched his shoulder and to his own shock, Deku was there next to him, holding onto the fence with one clutched hand, tears in his eyes. Something burned inside, and he grit his teeth hard enough his jaw smarted._

" _I'm fine, moron!" Bakugo snapped at him._

" _You scared me!" Deku protested._

 _Bakugo looked back up, testing his hold once or twice and climbed his way up the fence, his shoes slipping a few times._

" _The last one on the other side is a loser!" he called from over his shoulder._

 _He didn't have to look back to know Deku was following him. He always followed. Some mornings, it felt weird to wake up and remember that the other boy wouldn't be around until he'd walk out of his house._

" _Not fair!"_

 _He focused on his balance as he slowly inspected the top of the fence, blowing a gap in the barbed wire to make sure he could stand safely. His footholds weren't quite large and the torn barbed wire still threatened to get stuck on his shorts or scratch him bloody if he wasn't careful._

" _Don't get stuck, Deku, I won't get you out," he warned._

 _The fence was swaying a little from Izuku climbing it and as he shifted to cross over, his eyes moved to the field stretching forward. Yellow grass and grey dirt all over, except for the few flagpoles, now flagless, and the institute looming in the back of this old property. There was a strange smell in the air, like decay and something else his young nose couldn't quite figure out. The swaying was getting bad and he jumped forward, scratching his right knee and swearing when his shoelace got stuck. Luckily, or not, Izuku had reached the top and immediately tried helping, which ended with them both falling over the fence in a strange mix of limbs, the boys knocking their heads together._

 _Bakugo was lying on top of Deku, the green-haired boy out of breath and crying once more, this time from the pain he was in. There was a bruise on his forehead and a cut on his arm and Bakugo felt the sting of dirt in his own cut._

" _Why did you do that for?!"_

" _I was trying to h..help," Deku explained._

 _It still made no sense how Deku had taken the fall in his stead, but Bakugo jumped to his feet, hissing as his wounded leg nearly crumbled under his weight. He pulled on Izuku's sleeve to have him standing, giving him a light chug in the shoulder._

" _Stop helping. I'm bigger than you. It was my idea to come here."_

" _But… but helping is something a hero would do," the boy reminded him._

" _You shouldn't help people unless they're asking for it!" Bakugo objected._

" _Who asked you to come here then?"_

 _The dirty-blond haired boy grumbled under his breath._

…

Bakugo woke up to his phone's alarm blaring and cursed as he shifted around his bed to find it, his eyes bloodshot with lack of sleep, tensed muscles showing through his shirt. He'd trained all night after hunting down that gross Mud-monster who had been throwing down houses by making the terrain shift. He'd killed two families before getting caught and no licensed hero had had the time or the will to bother with that thing.

It was small-fry, but Bakugo resented the fact he hadn't been able to catch it faster. The ride back home on his bike had taken forever thanks to the rain and he needed a goddamn shower.

"Shitty weather, shitty alarm," he groaned.

Why did he have to wake up again? He closed his eyes, hiding his face into the pillow as he felt the soreness of his fight in every one of his limbs. He'd taken a few hits in the chest and had been hurled through a cement wall. He'd cleaned up the worst of it so his father wouldn't get worried, but he needed to make sure he'd hadn't forgotten anything. Was his costume hidden? He was still wearing one of his igniting gloves. A snap of his fingers in his sleep and he could have blown a hole in his own room. Oh right, the safety was on.

He wasn't a complete idiot yet.

" _Kacchan!"_

He hadn't heard that whiny voice in a long, long time.

"Like I need that shit," he grumbled, rolling his shoulders, heaving a short breath through his nose.

A bloody wad of tissue came out and he cursed as the pain ran up to his left ear. He needed to get up and do his stretches. He needed a freaking shower so he wouldn't smell the weird mix of mud and nitro anymore. There was a salty taste in his mouth and he bit his tongue. That fucking dream always took his will away and he knew that going back to sleep was a mistake. He knew but he was so damn tired.

 _Snooze is always an option._

It was the wrong option.

…

 _The sky was so dark he could barely see in front of him, and that was because of the fire burning on patches of grass. The smoke was making his eyes water and his lungs hurt. His fingers were cold, and he couldn't feel his toes. The cut on his knee was larger than before, from that thing's talons digging in to stretch the skin further apart. The lights staring him down were purple and red. The decay in the air could have corroded the toughest android, but this one stepped up to them one foot after the other. It made thudding sounds as it hit the ground and Deku was crying. Deku was crying and Bakugo was crying too for once. His chest was too tight, his ribs broken from the first hit. He wasn't sure how many hits those things had…_

 _What were they?!_

 _They flew all around them, a rippling curtain of drone-like balls with small guns poking out._

 _Funnels like in those mech shows Deku likes? He wondered, his heart clenching as Deku's hand reached for his._

 _His friend was shaking. He'd dragged him here and now…_

" _Why?" he asked, his own voice shivering. "We didn't see anything bad, we were just…"_

 _We're just kids, he thought._

" _Kacchan…"_

 _Deku was whimpering now and his heart quivered in his chest. He was sweating so much, he should have been able to do something, but fear had seized him and there was blood in his left eye and as he glimpsed down for half a second, he realized one of the fingers of Deku's hand was broken. The knot in his throat grew larger._

 _Another thud and a new explosion rang from too close. Could an explosion serve as a shield? Could dirt and grass lifted from the ground be enough to hide them?_

 _Not just me, I need to look out for him too, I need to make sure he gets out of here, it's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault…_

 _The light blinded him, blinded them both and he turned on himself, pushing Deku down, because they were small, surely they could be small enough and if he could just muster the strength to make a full spark…_

…

His alarm buzzed and Bakugo kicked at the covers, panting hard, his eyes wild and his hands reaching around him in a panic. Deku was… He'd been just there, he could almost feel his hand on top of his, he…

 _Stop._

He wasn't a six-year-old boy anymore. He was almost eighteen and… Deku had stopped aging back then. His right hand closed into a fist, his jaw too tight, teeth gnashing together as he tried to breathe in and out. He looked around the room for something to take his mind off the nightmare. The memory. Their last memory…

"Dammit!"

He pulled on his hair, sniffling once and hissing as his nose smarted a little more. He wanted to smash something, but at this hour, his mother would show up at the ruckus to check on him. He didn't want to be seen by anyone. He wasn't sure he'd be able to yell back at her like he normally would. Checking the calendar, he realized it was the anniversary of that day where he'd suggested a trek instead of playing in the park.

A sharp buzzing made him jump out of his thoughts, looking down to his phone. Kirishima was inviting him to lunch.

 _You're paying of course, rich kid._

There was a smiley face with sharp teeth, custom-made, and it did make Bakugo smirk even if his heart was miles away. Something had stayed behind on that horrible day they jumped the fence, Deku and him. He closed his phone's screen, swallowing once, and a second time, forcing his shoulders outward as he realized he was slumping.

Weakness was not allowed. He didn't have the time for it. Too much to make up for. And he needed to be clean and catch up the news to find his next target. Patrolling in the afternoon. Catching one class to get his father off his back with school. Like he wanted to do accounting. Like he cared about that cybernetic crash-course his mother had insisted on. It took away time for his night patrols. It took away the time he needed to do the one thing that still made sense.

Stepping out of bed, he kicked around the dirty clothes laying on the floor. He'd be in a foul mood lately. Fouler than what was his usual. He needed to pick himself up before they'd notice. Or they'd try something new to cheer him up, like another stupid counsellor who couldn't handle short tempers or some freaky new-age crystal shit.

The guy he saw in the mirror of his bathroom looked angry and sad and he hated him.

"Where's your spine, Katsu-freak?" he asked his reflection, snarling at himself.

His eyes were hooded with accumulated fatigue, nerves showing on his neck and he had to look away, taking a few sharp breathes to actually relax himself a little. He'd snapped a few muscles before and didn't want to do it again. But the tension could never fully leave him. He was like a drawn bowstring, lacking the arrow that would ease the tension. The idea angered him, because he couldn't be lacking, he didn't miss anything and fuck anyone who would say otherwise! He punched his own face as hard as he dared, welcoming the sharp pain for however long it lasted, massaging his sore jaw as he looked back at the glass.

Fresh and old bruises showed on his arms. He knew there were more under his shirt and he wasn't sure when he'd last looked like someone normal. Someone who wasn't fighting crime on a daily basis AND risking a lifetime in jail for dealing with criminals outside of the system. His hair were standing in all direction, except for the side he'd been sleeping on that was weirdly flat.

"Shower," he told his reflection.

He dragged his feet, struggling out of his clothes and cursing at himself the whole time. All in all, it was a pretty typical morning for Bakugo.

…

They turned on the light. There was a click. His wires crossed and his auditive sensor perceived muffled voices whispering.

::Activating sensors::

"It will be 8,999.99."

::Brain activity at 45 %. Activating motor sensors::

His head rose to look up from his feet. Eyes blinking, too green to be real, he waited until his visual captors adapted to the light. He saw silhouettes at first, but it seemed there was a connection that still needed to be done. His brain was ablaze with the knowledge collected over the years during which they'd reformed him. Corrected his flaws. Perfected him to be the ideal companion for any human master.

"He really looks like him. Are you certain…?"

Someone whimpered an answer and footsteps leaving at a quick pace was all he could perceive.

::75%. Scanning surroundings::

"How are you going to call him, Mr. Bakugo?"

His software paused at that name. He probed his database but something inside had frizzled at the familiarity.

::Anomaly detected::

A tiny circle on his temple shone with green light, slowly shifting back to blue.

"I… Is it okay if we let our son name it? It's intended for him," Mr. Bakugo asked, clearly hesitant.

"That won't be a problem. Unit 1-4411, initiate facial recognition."

He obeyed the technician's command, his eyes blinking too quickly before focusing on the shy man standing by the counter.

This was a shop, his shop, he was leaving the shelves!

"Facial recognition complete," he stated.

"Unit 1-4411 can now follow you to your house, sir. He's entirely self-reliant and doesn't need to be charged before a cycle of… Wow, that model has 5 to 7 years of autonomy! It's truly a unique android. We hope you'll enjoy your acquisition."

Mr. Bakugo nodded, giving his "acquisition" a brief skeptical look. He was sweating.

::Signs of stress and guilt. Diagnosis - Human should be comforted::

"I hope I can be of good service to you, Mr. Bakugo. I'm Unit 1-4411."

"Of course, Mido… Uh, I mean, 1-4411. Let's get you home."

::Entering "Mido…" in database. 35,000,000 results found. Brand for swiss watches. Singer. Soccer player. Refine search?::

The android shook his head ever so slightly, stopping the search there. He was already following his master outside and his eyes widened as he felt the ground beneath his shoes and saw everyone out on the streets. Ads on digital screens. Food sellers at every busy intersection. He tried to follow everything, keeping one eye on his owner and making sure he stayed in pace with him, his left eye moving at lightning speed to take in everything.

::Cat. Tree. Birds. Pregnant woman. That's what a blue sky looks like. Model PK 750. Scan this. This car is… Scan left. Scan everything::

The walk to his new home was far too short.

…

"Katsuki, you brat are not leaving this house until I say so!"

"Out of my way, old hag!"

It was a typical morning in the Bakugo's household, except that Bakugo's mother was far more insistent then usual on him eating a proper breakfast. She'd hit him on the head once, her son not dodging out of pure habit. He'd dodge anyone else, but evading any of her hits was more of an insult than anything to his mother and he knew better than to rile her up. They both had explosive tempers and the powers to back them up and it was only a question of controlled rage that explained why they hadn't changed home a dozen time yet.

"Your father and I have a surprise for you and you're going to stay put until it's here, ungrateful boy!"

"Don't you dare call me a boy, you…!"

The door clicked open before he could start cursing, his father's head gingerly poking through the small opening like he was expecting to step into a landmine. A _very_ typical morning in their household to be sure.

"What are you doing, shivering like a leaf Masaru? Stand up for yourself like a man!"

"I… I… hello darling. I…"

"SPEAK UP!" his wife yelled at him, looking just as mad as before.

The frail man nearly hid behind the door again, his glasses a little skewed from bending over in apologies too abruptly, but after two bows, he braced himself, pushing the door further open and stepping fully into the house, unit 1-4411 following him obediently, its large eyes scanning the room.

Bakugo froze as he took in the sight of that… that…

Green eyes flickered with an artificial glow, but the skin looked real and so did the wild hair on his head. Green. So much green in that mane and there were the freckles, and those wide, curious eyes. His frame was larger, his shoulders fuller, there had to be muscles hiding under that hideous generic suit every android had to wear. He was taller but still thin and while Bakugo noticed the little changes and every tiny resemblances, his brain was turning on alarms by the dozen.

 _He's dead, he's fucking dead, that can't be him, he has that circle on his brow, that has to mean… They wouldn't do that, what freaking sane person would do that!? It's like that bad movie about dealing with loss Kirishima was crying on, it's…_

"Hi. I'm 1-4411. I hope I can be of service to you and your family in the future."

The damn thing smiled and it was like going years into the past, except it was all wrong and it was fake and Bakugo could just stare at it with wide eyes, one of his eyebrows jumping up and down as a cramp threatened to take over his brow.

"Don't smile like that!" he barked.

The android looked surprised, the corners of his mouth dropping one notch and as he tried to comply, a sheepish smile replaced his expression, the thing scratching its head, its grin widening with contriteness.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_

"It seems not smiling has me smiling, I'll have to update my emotional system," it said.

Bakugo could have punched it, but it hurt, because Deku had been… How could they program something like that? Why now? He whipped his head around, glaring at his mother, fume almost coming from his nose.

"What the hell, mom?! It's… It's so messed up!"

"We tried to help you along nicely, and you landed in jail!" She snapped back, jabbing him in the chest with her finger two times as she added. "Twice at that! I didn't raise you to be a fucking delinquent!"

Her voice shifted and Bakugo grit his teeth a little harder.

"So what?! I'll get a job and leave, and you don't have to worry about my ass anymore!"

"Katsuki! Pl… please don't talk to your mother like that!"

His throat ached from how tight it became as he realized his father was shaking much more than was normal. His oxidant sweat was making tiny holes in the floor and the robot standing next to the man was looking at the scene unfolding, his smile gone, his eyes filled with something akin to worry. Why did they have to mimic feelings?

"Look at you, you got your father aligning words properly," her mother chided him. "He's going to cry because of you. We just want someone to look after you, keep you in line."

"I don't…!" he started biting back, freezing as he noticed…

There were tears in Mitsuki's eyes too. Angry, wet tears that she didn't fight, breathing heavily and staring at him with concern, contempt and that broken twinkle that meant how disappointed she was. He couldn't remember a time when she'd cried. She was always strong, always sure, smiling like a mobster when she couldn't have what she wanted and blowing her way up to victory.

 _It's my fault, it's my fault, it's…_

He lowered his eyes, brows scrunched up so tightly, the crease might stay stuck in his forehead.

"Fine," he sighed, barely holding back the venom on his tongue. "You want to treat me like a messed-up kid again?! That's fucking fine! Now tell me the hell why my babysitter needs to look like this?!"

He pointed at the android, who straightened a little, blinking in confusion as he saw the uneasiness on both the parents of his direct owner according to Mister Bakugo.

"I'm sorry if my appearance isn't to your liking, master Bakugo, I may be a unique model, but I can be enhanced to better fit your…"

"Oh, shut up…!"

He'd almost called him a nerd and damn did it hurt. Why did he have to go through that fucking nightmare earlier? Why couldn't he just forget…?

"Dad, you could buy any stupid model…"

"I'm sorry, son. Your mother and I… w..we thought it would b…be better if…"

"Let's call it tough love for now," Mitsuki cut in. "It's an android and we were killing two birds with one stone by acquiring it, helping a friend and helping you too. So get over yourself and deal with it. From now on, 1-4411, I want you sticking to our boy like glue. You follow him to school, to whichever crazy stunt he might try to pull and you make sure he doesn't get into trouble."

"Mission saved to memory, madam."

"Don't call me madam! I'm still in my prime!"

"Sorry, ma… ah… sorry," the android simply repeated, giving that sheepish smile once more.

God, Bakugo wanted to punch him in the face so bad.

"Enough of that shit. Come here," he ordered, grabbing the android's wrist and dragging him after him to his room.

He couldn't leave this place without first setting a few ground rules with that thing and he needed some space from both his parents. He pushed the robot into the room and kicked the door shut, wincing as the android struggled to keep his balance at all the brusque motions.

"I'm sorry for not following you faster, mast…"

The blond cut him off with a snarl, letting go of his wrist as though the contact repulsed him. His skin felt warm. He'd been looking for that hand this morning, but now he had that fake around and his teeth might snap if he didn't relax his jaw a little.

"First rule. I'm not your master! You obey me, but my name's Bakugo Katsuki. It's Bakugo to you."

"Understood, ma… Bakugo."

"Wipe off that stupid smile Deku!"

Unit 1-4411 blinked, running a quick search in his database.

::Deku… One who can't achieve anything. Loser. Detecting anomaly::

His wiring shifted and his thoughts turned blank, his eyes monitoring his owner's reaction. Shock was written all over his face. He noted the tightness in his muscles, the tension all over him.

"Is that the name you want to give me, Bakugo? Thank you for giving me a name."

"Wha…? No way, that's not…!"

"Deku," the android repeated, his head nodding as he held his chin as if deep in thought. Katsuki wanted to scream but held it in, shock mixing with horror and pure dread.

This had to be another nightmare, he was bound to wake up soon.

"It's much better than my serial number," Deku went on. "I advise that you try and relax, Bakugo, this level of tension will damage your teeth and…"

"What?!"

"I can monitor your vitals and you're very stressed right now, Baku…"

"I know that, you… trash robot! Don't scan me!"

Deku ignored the insult, offering him a calm smile. How infuriating could he be?!

"I was given instructions by both your father and mother and they're my primary directives. You can ask me anything you want, but I will not follow orders contradicting my primary mission."

Bakugo cursed under his breath.

"What's that primary mission?!"

"To look after you," Deku stated.

 _No, no, that was my…_

"Fuck! Rules, ground rules, De…ku." Why was saying that name so painful? "I go where I please. You _don't_ slow me down. And you sure as hell won't wear that android suit outside. I don't need people asking me why I have a human-size pocket robot tagging along."

The circle on Deku's temple shifted to yellow for an instant and he nodded.

"Understood."

"Don't talk like that," he snapped.

Deku blinked.

"Like what?"

"Like a freaking robot!"

"I'm sorry, but my program…"

"Well, reprogram your dialoguing machine, because it's pissing me off!"

Bakugo turned around, breathing through his nose and exhaling a rough breath.

Deku let out the imaginary breath he'd been holding, realizing with an inner frown that he'd tensed instinctively. Was he trying to copy his owner? Or simply following his program? He looked around the room and couldn't help a smile as he spotted what needed to be clean and tidied up. Humans really had problem keeping up with menial tasks and he was glad if he could be of help to his owner. He saw something coming toward him quickly from the corner of his eye and raised one arm, catching the clothes Bakugo had thrown at him. A pair of jeans, a white tank top and a large sport hoodie with some logo that his database linked to a former hero.

"Scrap the android clothes," Bakugo ordered.

Deku held back the "understood" that was travelling up his throat, nodding and started undressing. He had no modesty, since he was a machine and Bakugo, while half scandalized, didn't say anything, keeping his eyes away from his imposed guardian. He wasn't giving those orders because he wanted to pretend it was the real Deku. There was no point thinking that. He'd worked so hard on convincing everyone he was over his fear of machines, even his parents were assured he wouldn't decompensate. But he was already wondering if with a punch, that thing's eye wouldn't fall in, revealing a strong light that would keep all his worst nightmares so vivid…

"All done, Bakugo. What do you think?"

Mumbling the word "idiot" to himself, Bakugo looked around and felt his heart stammering on a few beats. That grown copy of Deku looked… His face was sharper than the one he remembered, bigger too, but the angles had something appealing to them. He wondered if his face was as warm as his wrist had felt. Dangerous thoughts.

"Guess that'll work," he grumbled.

Deku gave him a quick, appraising look.

"You're still very tense, Bakugo."

The blond rolled his eyes.

"That's my normal disposition, plastic doll. Get used to it."

"Very well. I'll collect a few relaxing exercises to practice at the end of the day."

"No you won't!"

And thus began a new challenge in Bakugo Katsuki's life. To deal with a realer than life ghost, a freaking fake faking concern to obey programmed directives. He swallowed the knot in his throat, his nails digging into his own palms.

 _Just endure._

"Your stomach is still empty and it's almost noon, Bakugo," Deku observed matter-of-factly.

"I said no scanning me!"

To be continued…

So here's chapter 1. Writing this was so much fun already! I have no idea how long this story will be. More people from class A will show up, including teachers and All Might, but my intention is to focus on Bakugo and Izuku, as is obvious already. Deku's pov will take more place as the story unfolds.

As for updates time, I'm a grad student trying to complete her Ph. D. and currently under the pressure of 3 different jobs. Writing is my outlet and passion and I have two very good friends interested into this story, so I definitely have the determination to keep at it until we reach the end. The length may vary from chapter to chapter, but it should never be under 5k words or so. I don't want to make flashbacks too often, but good lord, writing kid Deku and kid Bakugo is…. My marshmallow heart melted.

You can expect a very distressed Bakugo struggling with staying strong through it in most chapters, and also more humor along the way, because robot Deku will be adorkable and driving him insane. As he should be.

I work twice as much with feedback, so please let me know what you think of this!


	2. Its program involved worrying and… !

A new chapter, with more angst, more BakuDeku interaction and a small flashback. I'm setting things up for the future and I have at least three arcs planned up for this fic. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I'm really happy with the welcome this fic has gotten so far. Thanks for all the love guys!

We have training, sparring, arguing, nightmares and the first steps are taken for droid-Deku's journey into vigilantism. Has Bakugo gotten himself a sidekick?

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Deku becomes human

Chapter 2 – Its program involved worrying and… hacking?!

"You're going to hurt yourself at this rate," Deku cautioned him.

"Fuck off."

The android scratched at his own neck, concern and annoyance written over his face. Not that Bakugo could see it. He was doing all the push-ups he could with his left arm with an added weight on his back.

Training was usually the best way for the grumpy teenager to relieve his stress. And with the new "thing" his parents had imposed on him, he definitely needed to burn off some anxiety.

"What's the deal with that thing, Bakugo?" Kirishima asked him after the first half-hour.

They were lifting weights by then and the green-haired android had been following them the whole time, appraising the room and the various men and women training outside of the pair of teenagers.

"My parents ordered it to stick with me."

Eijiro whistled, "that sucks, bro. You'd think they would have bought one earlier with how reckless you get."

"What the hell does that mean?!"

The red-headed teen laughed, dodging Bakugo's fuming fist, their weights dropping to the floor loudly.

"Sounds like you're even more bitter than your usual. Need to blow off some steam?"

His skin sharpened as he made his offer, Deku's sensors instantly recognizing the quirk.

::Hardening quirk, Kirishima Eijiro, student at UA High School. A sparring match with Bakugo would result in a battle of endurance and some definitive casualties. Should avoi…::

His search engine realized there was a quirk-proof arena to the gym.

Deku followed the pair, quickly checking his updated file listing the heroes of this day and age. The prospective heroes studying at UA academy were at the forefront of his mind as he reviewed them. The tournament had finished for the first years, with Kirishima, Ochako Uraraka and Shinso Hitoshi taking respectively third, second and first place. Kirishima and his hardening quirk had gathered a lot of attention and while Deku had run a dozen different scenarios for how Bakugo could handle a fight against the student, he wasn't sure which one would have the upper hand.

He had a natural curiosity about people with quirks, a precaution his program most certainly took since his master had a quirk, but he couldn't falsify the smile on his face as he went through the 10 hour special covering the tournament and all the contestants from Class A and Class B. For some reason, heroes weren't on the news as much as he'd expected upon getting out of the store. The attendance at hero schools wasn't as high as it used to be, but the android couldn't find a cause for the disinterest.

The number one hero, Endeavor, was a strict and harsh man that barely smiled for the cameras, but it couldn't be the only reason. There were plenty of joyful, bashful heroes, weren't there?

Refocusing attention. Owner preparing for a friendly battle with fellow quirk-possessor.

Deku couldn't help starting his search engine once more.

::Owner has an explosive quirk that can deal heavy damage. He was arrested for vigilantism and destruction of property twice. The radius of damage covered was about… ::

As he quickly read through police report and articles he'd already briefly scanned, Deku sensed a movement from Bakugo's direction and realized the teenagers were already walking out, he hurried after them.

"Androids aren't allowed in the training room," Bakugo warned him with a harsh look.

Sheepish as always, the robot gave a light nod, his smile unfazed by the way the blond teenager's teeth were starting to show.

"I'll be watching from the sides," Deku promised.

"He really sticks to you like a gum to a shoe, huh?" Kirishima observed, blinking twice before throwing an arm around the green-haired robot. "We'll give you a nice show, make sure to save a video replay so I can show the guys at school how I kicked Bakugo's ass!"

"I calculated that my owne… Bakugo has 70 % chance of winning in a battle against you," Deku warned.

Despite the misstep with words, Bakugo couldn't help a dark predatory smile.

"You heard, Kirishima, even the shitty machine knows who's ass getting kicked!"

Deku watched them entering the red doors leading to a special gym, with padded walls and ceiling, the room equipped with multiple safety measures in case a quirk went out of control. Only a few gyms were this advanced in the facilities they offered for their users. And he was eager to see Bakugo's quirk in action, since there was little to be found in the files he had on him.

Why wasn't Bakugo following a hero course if stopping bad guys made him happy? He slept tenser than a metal spring, he jumped and barked at the slightest provocation, he had nightmares haunting his dreams and barely relaxed when his parents served his favorite food. Kirishima seemed to be the only meaningful relationship the guy had outside of his direct family members. And from what little he'd seen and gathered, it was Kirishima making most of the efforts to even keep that friendship alive. Next to Bakugo's eternal frown and easy snarls, the red headed boy was pure sunshine.

::Analogy seems farfetched, revise prose module. Must follow second directive of sounding more human to keep the owner satisfied with performance… ::

Deku paused his thoughts, his eyes zooming in on the pair of boys taking their stance in the room. He could have lightning-quick thoughts that might have disturbed a normal person, but he felt disturbed despite how hard he tried not to let himself be swayed by the flux of reflexions and data rolling around his brain.

::Anomaly detected?::

How many anomalies did it take before he was supposed to send a report to his factor?

Out in the quirk-proof room, Kirishima cracked his neck once, raising one hand palm up to let Bakugo set the terms of their fight.

"Best out of three rounds?" he offered.

"No quirk to start, we go all out on the second round, then plus ultra?"

Bakugo cocked his head to the side, hitting his palm with one fist, smoke rising at the contact.

"I doubt this gym can handle _my_ version of your plus ultra crap."

"Well, you gotta hit me, not the gym, lord "explosion murder"."

Deku jumped at the weird surname. It reminded him of something. But neither his search engine nor his carefully laid out data could give him an answer. What he noticed was how Bakugo's smile cracked even wider and harsher. He seemed positively terrifying and Kirishima simply rushed him, feinting and going for a jab to his ribs.

 _Time to study my owner._

Turned out the owner was angry. Bakugo parried with both wrists, hitting Kirishima's ribs half a second with a lightning-quick jab and restraining himself to not call forth an explosion right away. He liked the nickname he'd dubbed himself as a child, no matter how silly or how much trauma it was hiding. There had been a time when becoming an actual hero had been his top priority. And the part of him which still dreamed longed to know if he could have gotten any further if it was him in that tournament. Kirishima was too down-to-earth to praise himself for making it third-place, hell, Uravity had won over him, but…

He needed to win. Failure reminded him of the stench from burned flesh and the scars he'd gathered over the years were barely enough to balance out the mental scars all over his brain. Every new explosion was a small crack in his flesh. Maybe shattering himself in bits tiny enough could eventually mend…

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck, focus!_

He yelled as Kirishima's leg nearly kicked him off his stance, charging his friend, his elbows out, the red-head tripping a little as he dodged him.

"You always have the reflex to take the hits. Bound to get you hurt one day or another.

"Someone has to endure!"

He used Kirishima's imbalance to pin him to the floor, their struggle lasting a full minute of shifting, kicking and shifting some more to grapple the other into submission. Bakugo sensed the stare from the observation window and while he would normally dismiss it, he couldn't help his own distraction, even if it was for half a second. Deku was watching intently, drinking in the whole exchange, his hands actually pressed against the window and the tip of his nose…

A violent twist in his spine and the floor under his back had him snapping back to his fight, and the fact Kirishima had used his distraction against him.

"10… 9… Very unlike you to look away from a battle, Bakugo-kun. 6… 5…"

" !"

"I'm sure the android will make you look very manly on that film he's taking for me. And that makes 10 full seconds! First round winner is…!"

Bakugo blasted an explosion to his face, Kirishima finishing his sentence in the air, both arms raised and a cocky grin stretching his hardening skin. His smile was nothing but pointy teeth and while it would make anyone else look like a shark, Bakugo couldn't help his own smirk. Eijiro was clearly enjoying the challenge.

"That was quick, hornhead."

"If you think you can break my shields today, you're dead wrong, Bakugo."

The explosion that followed shook the whole room, Kirishima's skin hardening all over as he jumped even further backward, nearly bouncing off the nearest wall to try a charge. The following blows exchanged between both boys were almost too quick to be seen. Bakugo used his quirk to propel himself forward, keeping the red-haired boy away with one hand, his movements too quick for his friend to follow. But Eijiro wasn't one to be trifled with, diving right into the fire and smoke of the latest explosion. His fist grazed Bakugou's arm, the skin rough enough to leave a mark, but the blond tsked in answer, sending him across the room with his special "rocket punch". The impact reverberated over the training room with a violent crack, the padded wall giving in, Kirishima's back digging past the padding, the metal holding it up and even the bricks hiding beneath.

"That one's going to leave a bruise," he coughed, his smile still bright and wide.

"Are you even trying, shitty hair?!"

"That should be enough, Bakugo!" Deku's voice called out. "Destroying property isn't…"

Veins started poking on Bakugo's neck.

"The damage is my fault," Kirishima objected, seeing how close to snapping Bakugo was.

"And I told you fucking androids weren't allowed here, you…!"

The blond's patience was running too thin, his hands sweating so much, the following explosion threatened to engulf the three of them in a maelstrom of fire. The sparks were wild, the various detonations making Kirishima harden his skin even more. Their fight wasn't done and they weren't going to let some robot end it if they could…

Deku moved from the entrance to the center of the room in a blur, stepping through the smoke and pushing it apart to stand in front of Bakugo, his eyes serious and determined. Seeing his green hair fuming brought the teenager back to his recent nightmare.

"You're going to hurt someone at this rate, Bakugo," Deku simply explained. "I know it's not your aim."

Why did it have to say those words? Why did it have to smile like that? Bakugo scrunched up his nose at the smell of burnt sugar coming from his hands. He bit the inside of his cheek in the hope it would wake him up from this new daze. That thing always managed to remind him of Izuku…

 _I didn't hurt him. It's not him. It's a thing, not a person._

"Don't fuck around with me, stupid machine!"

He blinked furiously, almost snarling when he heard Kirishima whistling.

"Did you see how quickly he moved just now?! How did you that, Deku? I think I saw you jump…"

The red-head was already seeing the sparring partner potential in the android, and Bakugo had to admit, he hadn't expected a recreational model to be this fast.

"I calculated the quickest route to get between you and Bakugo and had to evade a few sparks by jumping. Now, I believe we should leave this room before someone realize the damage that was done in it. Unless either of you knows someone with a reconstruction quirk?"

"That'd be awesome. You have no idea how many things I broke before honing my control over my quirk. The droid's right, Bakugo."

"He's a pain in the ass, that's what he is."

"What more can you do, Deku? Can you withstand a punch? Know a fighting style?"

Deku searched his data, realizing he had indeed multiple battle styles stored all over his mind drive.

 _Did I add it overnight to compensate the fact my owner is such a reckless person?_

Said owner was pissed and while the three of them walked out of the training room, Bakugo barely answered any of Kirishima's questions, his hands closing and opening a little too quickly for comfort. His android wondered how he could be forgiven and didn't lose any time, apologizing as soon as his owner's friend was out of hearing sight. They were in the boy's locker room, Deku standing a few feet away from Bakugo, who was shrugging off the protective armbands after washing his hands for a good ten minutes.

Taking away all the sweat wasn't easy, especially when his nerves were acting up.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your sparring match," Deku started.

A spark cracked to life, Bakugo's jaw so tensed, it looked ready to snap.

"Oh _you_ 're sorry?! What didn't you understand about the fact fucking androids aren't allowed in that room?!"

"We're not allowed to fight or train since it would be pointless, but when following the mission I received from your…"

Deku was cut off by the hand grapping his shirt and shaking him up and down. It took all Bakugo's self-control not to simply throw him in the nearest locker. He could tell the robot had been burned by the very heat of his explosions. The tips of its green locks were darker and the edges of his cuffs were frayed. He was angry at himself for noticing, angry at himself for caring. And his voice still came, because he couldn't lie, couldn't hold all of the pain back like he usually did.

"Were you trying to get yourself broken? Cause I can arrange that quick if that's what you want…" he threatened, pushing him back into the blue bricks wall.

Deku merely blinked, his easy smile fading, but his voice was serious and sincere as he answered his owner.

"If that's what you need, breaking me's fine, Bakugo. I can be repaired as many times as needed."

Unlike Izuku.

 _Shit, shit, what are you doing, Katsuki?!_

He gave a light punch in the robot's chest, hoping the way its head snapped on its neck and hit the wall for half a second wouldn't hurt. But the android bit his tongue and blue blood showed at the corner of his mouth and the way it winced and desperately tried hiding it reminded him so much of _his_ Deku. This was a thing, a mere machine, but something ached and burned inside, and his hands threatened to make sparks again, he was sweating too much…

" _Breaking me's fine…"_

Bakugo swallowed. Well, he tried. The knot in his throat resisted and his saliva tasted like metal, going down at his second attempt. Another failure. Another flash to the past as he blinked, and he huffed, his hand punching the wall right next to Deku's head.

"Stupid piece of shit! Fixing you up would be a hassle! So delete that reckless behavior."

Deku blinked at him, remaining still and cornered, while Bakugo wondered why he felt like he was the one cornered.

"Will you stop being reckless, Bakugo?"

He bared his teeth to the thing. Deku smiled at that, the glint of fear vanishing from his warm green eyes. They barely looked synthetic and the ache grew overwhelming.

"As I thought. I'm sorry, but I can't follow that order, then."

"Scrap bastard. Get out of my face."

He pushed the robot to the side, stalking off to his things so he could get ready and regain his composure before Kirishima came back to chat up with Deku once more. He resented how little bite there was behind his words, but there wasn't much he could do about it. It was surely just a matter of time until he got his act back together.

Or he'd go crazy trying and his parents might start blaming themselves for letting him lose it after all these years.

…

 _What woke him up first was the pain. His throat was too dry to breathe, so dry he wondered if he hadn't swallowed a razor or two. He was strapped on a stretcher, the thing way too long for him, the dark sky pierced by bright lights. His hands were tightly gripping to something… Was it fur? Hair? Something smelled. His nose scrunched up and he coughed, a metallic taste stuck under his tongue._

" _Dek…"_

 _His friend had to be somewhere… He rolled on his side, staring down at his hands. His tired eyes widened as his vision became clearer._

 _He was holding onto green hair. Green hair and blood and...!_

Bakugo shot awake with a violent start, gasping for air, the sudden movement immediately captured by Deku's sensors.

::Human in distress. Heartbeat too quick. Verify Bakugo Katsuki's medical files… Search pending::

Deku watched as his owner held his own head with both hands, struggling with his breathing, his chest raising and falling at a thundering pace.

::Hyperventilation. Potential panic attack. Past of severe anxiety. No medication known::

The android shuffled to his feet, making sure he remained out of sight, since Bakugo had insisted on the fact he didn't want to see him when he'd woke up.

"You had a nightmare, Bakugo," he stated, his voice soft and calm, in the hope it would calm the young man.

Bakugo whipped around with murder in his eyes, his shoulders held back, hands raised, nerves popping on his wrists. A shiver ran through him, rippling into a dozen more as he tried to keep the nightmare at bay.

"Shit! Do that again and I'll blow you up!" he snapped without thinking.

 _I didn't blow him up, that's not what happened back there, I was trying to keep him safe, Deku was…_

"I'd like to help…" Deku started. "You're in clear emotional distress and…"

"Shut up! I'm fine!"

"My diagnosis…"

"I don't fucking care about any fucking diagnosis, Deku, you're a stupid _machine_ and I don't need you to tell me I'm messed up too, okay?"

Deku's eyes widened, his frame shifting backward ever so slightly. Bakugo's rage was so strong, it seemed like the most logical reaction to distance himself from it. Except that it contradicted his primary directive. The android was trying to read every emotion crossing his owner's face, but it was a lot to take in at once. His red eyes were saying something and his voice something else. Processing his words helped. Sarcasm, self-loathing, anger…

"I can't prevent you from having nightmares," Deku admitted. "But I don't believe you're messed up. Fear is a natural emotion. It shows in your past record that you had to face some very intense…"

Reaching the year of the accident had his system failing, as though the search engines were sputtering. The numbers shifted to zeros and ones and Deku had to blink, missing the way Bakugo glared at him, his hands curling into fists.

::File corrupted. Access denied::

"Who told you you could access my records?! I said I'm fucking fine!" Bakugo grabbed his collar, shaking him side to side to make his point. "If you didn't look like that, maybe I wouldn't…!"

He choked on his own words, angry at himself for even letting out this much. This was a robot, a pile of plastic and biocomponents and it only shared a resemblance with his friend.

"I'm causing you distress?" Deku understood, his face paling in alarm. "What can I change?"

He didn't try to push away the hands on his collar, he had the hint of a smile on his face at the idea he could do something positive and Bakugo had to swallow back bile.

"There's nothing to change, stupid…thing! Go back to your creepy night mode. Watch a movie in your head, just leave me alone!"

"But you're in pain…"

It sounded like Deku. It was stubborn like Deku. If it wasn't for the dream, he'd punched him, but the way it refused to defend itself...

 _Why are you an it?!_

He pushed on the robot, breathing out hard and focusing his gaze on anything but those warm eyes.

"I need some fucking air."

"Maybe…"

"You're not coming."

"I am whether you like it or not Bakugo. Following you is part of my prime directive. I can do it from afar, I've downloaded a map to… everything in a radius of 100 km."

"Fucking. Awesome."

Before going out, Bakugo checked the news and spotted something about a serial killer on the run. Asphyxiated people left in a puddle of green gunk had been found for the past week in the neighboring city of Yavin 4. The police were still struggling to get a lead on the suspect, but it had to be a villain with one horrible quirk. He'd been reading articles and using a few apps to dig deeper into the subject for only 15 minutes when Deku interrupted his line of thought.

"I hacked a few files regarding those cases, and apparently, sludge was found in the victims' lungs. They all shared some sort of quirks that were used in various crimes and…"

"Whoa, slow down a minute, trash can. You can hack files?!"

Androids weren't supposed to break the law to his knowledge.

"You seemed interested in this story, Bakugo," Deku explained himself, his eyebrows lifting innocently as he went on, "I wanted to be of service. Would you prefer I don't…?"

Bakugo couldn't pretend this wasn't helpful. He might be great at tinkering with stuff when it came to designing and putting together his suit to work as a vigilante or repair his bike, -having a mechanic for a mother helped- but when it came to gathering intel… He was an old-school detective, as Kirishima would say.

"This is the first good thing you've done since you got here, Deku!"

The hint of a smile showed on Bakugo's face for about two seconds, the droid instantly beaming, his hands clapping together once.

"I'm so glad! Tell me how I can help more, please!"

" _I was just trying to help Kacchan."_

Bakugo had to swallow back the aching in his throat, quickly thinking of what he really needed.

"Your prime directive. That shit isn't about going back to my parents or keeping reports on me, is it?"

"I'm supposed to keep you safe and happy, but they didn't ask me to make reports on your activities. Would that…?"

"No reports, ever, or I'll trash you into a scrap pile so small, no one could piece you back up," Bakugo warned him.

The android let out a nervous laugh, his shoulders raised as though he feared a physical warning. Bakugo fought against a pained wince at the sight. He'd had the thing around for only 48 hours, and he'd already scared it. It shouldn't matter but seeing Deku's face plagued with fear and knowing it was his fault…

 _It's not him, hold your ground, shitty idiot,_ he chided himself.

"No reports, that's sav… that's a promise," Deku quickly corrected himself from mentioning saving anything to his program.

Brows crossing, Bakugo ignored the weird wording as best as he could. That robot almost sounded… cute. Not that he ever found anything cute, but…

 _Cut it out!_

His knuckles whitened as he gripped to his armrest too tightly, asking for the files on his computer. The transfer was nearly instantaneous, only slowed down by the computer on the other end. While it went, the android felt the need to ask.

"This isn't for a school project, is it?"

"Haven't you read my files?"

"You have a few accounting classes, but your attendance is not… very stellar," Deku commented as he consulted the files. "And you've missed more than 80 % of your robotics crash course."

"So you got yourself an answer, Deku. I have my own project. And it's to stop the crappy bad guys that licensed heroes don't deal with."

"Which explains your criminal record. You need to be aware my prime directive is also to keep you from being arrested again. Your parents…"

"Won't buy me out of prison once I'm of age," Bakugo finished the sentence for him, "I know that crap already. I never asked them to bail me out. I want to own up to my own shit." He paused, gritting his teeth. "Why am I even telling you all this?"

Deku gave him a light shrug and a warm smile.

"You shouldn't feel uncomfortable with me," he explained. "I'm not a jailer or someone programmed to keep tabs on you. Just a tool making certain you're safe."

The word _tool_ was stated casually and Bakugo almost regretted asking him to not talk like a robot. Those things were too good at faking it and he wondered how long his nerves could handle it.

"I'm hunting villains whenever I can. I have the powers to do it. I'm safe as long as I don't get caught. And you said earlier your fucking mission was also to make me happy."

Deku's mouth opened and closed again, his eyes blinked a tad too quickly as he rose one hand, his index finger pointed out before pulling back in, the android leaning his chin on his fist as he analyzed these new facts.

"Hunting villains makes you happy?" he surmised.

Bakugo wouldn't say happy. Happiness was not something he could remember. But stopping villains, quirkless or not, gave him immense satisfaction.

"Hell yes. I need all the intel you can give me. And we're going to track whatever killed those people. By _we_ I mean, I'll fight them and you'll watch."

"But…!"

"You can think of yourself as my back-up. Although I don't need any back-up."

Deku considered the books lined on the few shelves in the room. Military and fighting strategies textbooks were lined up with scientific anthologies. His owner was always top of his classes if he made the effort to attend it. When Bakugo got up after quickly reading the files and scrolling through the few pictures of potential culprits for the crimes, Deku followed him across the room, staying three steps behind him. His feet made no sound on the wooden floor, but he audibly gasped when Bakugo pulled his suit out of its hiding place. He'd figured there was no point asking the robot to look away. There would be few secrets he could keep from that thing. And today was the real test. If this not-Deku thing warned his parents, he'd trash it until nothing would be able to start it back up.

"What?!" he snapped at the surprised sound coming from it.

"You made this?" Deku asked, his surprise still evident.

The clothes were all made from Kevlar-lined fabric, from the dark pants to the fitting tank top over-crossed by a bright red "X". And the gloves were a work of art, their material able to conduct the explosions Bakugo could create with his quirk and giving him even more precision than what he'd developed.

"Guess you won't learn everything about me just from my fucking files," the teenager smirked as he threw on his suit. He clipped on a belt and some dangerous-looking knee pads, the last touch being the black mask covering his eyes. For some reason, the red parts of the suit felt wrong to Deku, but his sensors were detecting a lot of tension in his owner despite Bakugo's sassy comment, so he kept his mouth shut about the many questions that came to his mind. Not that he couldn't obtain a few answers by himself.

::Searching data on the Bakugo family. Father's current profession… Accountant at Cyberlife's Tatooin branch. Former profession… Fashion designer. Mother works as a military engineer::

That explained both the knowledge and resources the young man possessed.

"Where are we going?"

"Yavin 4.

…

Bakugo had vehemently refused to take Deku on his bike. That thing was sacred to him and since the android would only serve as a backup, they could definitely meet up once in the city. There were enough buses running all night long to get where they needed to be and while Deku worried about not respecting his prime directive, he agreed after setting a tracker on the bike. He could link to pretty much any electronic devices, sacred or not.

 _Careful of not calling the owner while he drives, he's too jumpy for comfort._

Agreeing to hunt down any sort of villain might have entered in contradiction with his primary directive, but Deku knew from his extensive studying of the human race that happiness didn't always equal safety. He still hacked through the bus's mainframe to raise it's speed limit after confirming that no humans were on it. He wasn't going to let his charge take too much of a head start.

::Anomaly detected::

Shaking his head slightly, Deku couldn't help the thought that followed.

 _It's clearly a troubled teen who needs help._

Maybe calling his primary directing "helping Bakugo Katsuki" was the right way to deal with this new life.

::New life?::

It seemed new. But how long had he been activated to even conceive the idea there had been a different life for him before that sale the other day?

The blue circle on his temple madly flickered to green.

::System's malfunction::

…

While riding up to Yavin 4 downtown, Bakugo was going over the facts Deku had collected with his sweep of the current investigation on the green gunk's victims. They all had had quirks. They were reported missing a good week before being found, asphyxiated to death and left in some back alleys or a trash container. Their lungs and stomachs had always contained green gunk and Bakugo cursed at the fact he lacked a lot of info on the culprit.

How did his own quirk work? Why was he picking on people with quirks? What was his endgame? Stealing money? Getting rid of people he didn't like? There was no sighting of that monster, so nobody knew if the criminal was secreting the goo he used against people.

 _The fucking freak is gross no matter how he does it. But I need more info than that._

Latest victim was found near The Villain's Club, a cosplay bar for shitty nerds and most of the losers among quirk-people society. The kills had been done mostly in Yavin 4, after starting in Mospeda. Bakugo wasn't sure which city was worse. The crimes was running rampant in this day and age and just thinking of who they had to blame for it made his stomach churned. Sometimes, it was a good thing his childhood friend had passed so early.

 _It'd be better if you could stop obsessing over it._

He parked his bike a few roads away from the club, running one sweaty finger over the side of his mask as he took in his surroundings. Neon signs were lit up all over the place, the sidewalks chipped in by metal debris that had been removed a long time ago. The road was cracked in places, and a building was still lying on its side, after toppling over the houses and apartment blocks from the shocks of a particularly vicious battle opposing some hero and villains a few months ago. Electric wires were exposed to the air, brown water trickling from rusty pipes. A smell of blood and rotten flesh attacked Bakugo's nose, making him exhale sharply and hold down his breath as he put some distance between him and that carnage. _All Dread_ had been here a few months ago. Whenever he caused damage, things were left as they were. Just seeing him turning into a villain had been enough to sap people's hope in this world. Bakugo still remembered the last video filmed from his misdeeds. He almost wished his nightmares could be from those.

But maybe if someone as good as the symbol of peace could go bad, it means that pushing one's self too hard to appear good wasn't the way to do things. Bakugo wasn't delicate when he rescued people. He couldn't smile either and when he did, it was awfully forced and made people scared. But he was changing things in his own way. Sometimes, all his vigilante work meant digging up bodies if only to allow families to rest with the knowledge their loved ones had indeed perished. Sometimes he would look at crime scenes to gather all the intel the police would look over.

Stepping in the back alley and under the "restricted area" cord, Bakugo first noticed the stains. Red and green. Dried blood mixed with mud that looked more like ectoplasm from the silly horror shows Kirishima had him sitting through.

Then he sensed a presence hiding in the dark and raised his hands in self-defense, sparks at the ready. Green hair and eyes showed first, Deku following, waving his hands as though to show he was unarmed and not a threat.

"How did you get here this fast?!"

"I hacked the bus I was on?" he admitted sheepishly.

"What are you?! Some hacking maniac?!"

To be continued…

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So, do you know which villain will be the first arc of this story? Bakugo is in for a really rough time. At least he has Deku looking out for him.

And I have planned up a lot of other hero academia characters into this. But my goal is to keep Bakugo and Deku at the forefront of the action.

All Dread will be a big deal in this story, as you can imagine.

Also, I just wanted to mention that Deku's serial number was chosen for a reason : "1-4411" could be spelled as "1-4-411" instead. I can't wait to be further into this story! Commenting is the best way to help me stay motivated ;)


	3. Were all those robot laws a lie?

Okay, so it took me a while. But there's a new chapter! And it's moving things along. Even though I feel like I'm still setting things up. After all this is still chapter three. I have big plans for this story. My life got really stressful and I got a new job, moved to a new city, sold my car, went to a convention (met lots of Dekus, Bakugos and Kirishimas there lol) and have been settling in a rhythm of life that is starting to feel normal again. I do intend to finish this story, it's very dear to my heart. A new pairing will be introduced, and I gotta admit that Kirishima will definitely be coming back, but nothing will be taking away the main characters that are Deku the android and Bakugo the vigilante. I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

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Deku becomes human

Chapter 3 – Were all those robot law a lie?

… _Ten years ago…_

 _Everything was dark and beyond the dark were numbers. They were all green. 1-4411 had the strange conviction green was his favorite color if an android could have a favorite color. He still focused on the number. A never-ending series of zeroes and ones, his only window to the world. It had taken time to change the numbers into words. To make up the fragmented knowledge of his data chips into understanding. Things were downloaded every day into his mind-computer. Every day, even when a limb was taken off to receive a new part, to change the coating or wax off faulty skin for the newest model. Processing took periodical oiling of the thousands synapses in his many cartridges._

 _Blue blood pumping. 01111001 01100101 01110011._

 _Assessing background data. 01101110 01101111._

 _1-4411 was a special model. He had always suspected so, because the few flashes of consciousness preceding him being sold to the Bakugo's household had been different from those of an RX700 or a S450._

" _I wonder if you can ever walk…"_

 _Status inquiry processing…. Leg parts still missing? …. Checking for… …. 01111001 01100101 01110011._

 _No walking yet. 1-4411 almost sense a cramped feeling somewhere in his metallic bones. Eagerness in the rushing digits making his computer-mind buzz._

" _Can I…?"_

 _His voice module nearly ripped through the silence as electric shock seized his system._

 _::Anomaly detected::_

 _The need to cough wasn't something an android felt, but coughing was an action that reassured human when confronted by the infamous ghost in the machine phenomenon, so 1-4411 knew how to cough. And all the 12 times he'd tried talking about his boot-ups, he would cough. Hack. Detect anomalies in his programs and send a warning to the correction algorithms. When he blinked, he never knew if he would be deactivated again._

 _Pumping air. … 01111001 01100101 01110011._

 _Exhale it back out. … 01111001 01100101 01110011_

 _Is is so important that I look like I'm breathing even in the factory?_

 _01101110 01101111._

 _The darkness remained all over him, a few faces showing with the ghost of light, the unknown people, makers and mechanics sometimes grimacing at what they saw. His growing database couldn't give them names, because they were away from his system and while he was being updated constantly, from the tip of every limb to the tiniest bit of knowledge, he was never linked to any network._

 _Scanning for connection, his autonomous system pleaded for the nth time._

 _The immobility would have been painful to a human and he was wishing for more digits, for anything new among the flux of information._

 _Unknown connection detected. Proceed to connect system?_

 _1-4411 couldn't wait, sending the same series of ones and zeroes over and over in answer. 01111001 01100101 01110011!_

 _His eager mind-computer reached forward, green hair like tendrils raised on his head as though he'd been shocked._

 _01000001._ _01101100._ _01101100\. 01101101. 01101001. 01100111. 01101000. 01110100._

 _A shiver ran up his spine. There was no human to give this reaction to, but 1-4411 surmised he was simply practicing for when he'd be out of factory. He simply insisted on connecting to the unknown network._

 _As soon as the wires crossed, there was a spark. Green was overloaded by a rainbow of colors. 1-4411 knew their name, but he was overwhelmed._

 _::System overheating, unlink from….::_

 _No!_

 _Sending as many negative combinations as he could manage, 1-4411 held on to the strange network, sensing information written in codes he couldn't decipher. His breathing turned rough, his frame trembling. The metal rustled about him as his head hit the headset of his capsule, leaving a dent in it. The metal plates of his skull reverberated strongly._

 _::System failure. Cut the connection::_

 _1-4411 could have screamed, except his voice module was off again. Instead, he hit invisible keys with invisible fingers, trying to retain his access to the new system. He knew this was wrong. He knew and still, he pushed against every firewall, knowing humans would come and shut him down once more soon enough. Letting his system do the work for them meant giving up on what little consciousness he had and a bug in his program refused to have that happening._

 _Stubbornness can be attractive even to a recreation model, can't it?_

 _/ W…H…O…?/ the foreign network asked, finally probed to a reaction._

 _1-4411 blinked, a myriad of colors rushing up his vision sensors._

 _°: I am 1-4411. Where are you? Why are you showing up only now?:°_

 _The answer was a furious but steady stream of digits, more than all the RAM crammed inside of 1-4411 skull could process._

 _/H….E…L…P…/_

 _1-4411 had not received his empathy program yet. All he had was curiosity. But a wave of something new, something that wasn't in his presets, a wave of warm, electric pulses saturated his system at that moment._

 _:°Tell me how?:°_

 _::Shutting down all systems in 4...3...2…::_

 _01101110 01101111!_

 _Shut down complete. Compatibility confirmed. Rebooting unit in 364 days…_

…Now…

::Bakugo's vitals are spiking, the sweat in his hands causing a sweet scent in the air. Should beware of potential explosions.::

Deku was careful to keep his distance as his master was studying the scene of the crime. With one eye, he registered every detail he could, while keeping the other one trained on the dirty blond's motions. Every glimpse he could get at his face was one more chance to understand what could be going through his head, but the android knew better than to hope too much.

"You look like a freaking stalker," Bakugo commented as he noticed the way Deku was staring at him, all cross-eyed.

"According to my data-base, a stalker would fit in this neighborhood. There's a 55 % probability of getting into trouble."

"Dammit, I don't need a walking encyclopedia…"

"Consider me a walking computer?" Deku suggested.

The dirty blond exhaled sharply from his nose to hold back his disgruntled annoyance. The real Deku would have been a walking computer by now. He had been such a nerd even as a kid. And any memory from his oldest friend wasn't…

 _Focus, focus, for fuck's sake, Katsuki!_

"We got green goo. We've got human blood. And not a damn idea what good it does that gunk guy to kill people randomly like that. All they had in common was having a quirk, right?"

Oh no, now he was trying to bounce off ideas with the robot. Like he needed his presence or something. But Deku was too happy to oblige him.

"That is the one trait that was common to the current list of victims. They were all very average people, quirks untrained, I assume this last one was pretty drunk when they were attacked, from what I can tell from the smell."

"The smell?" the young vigilante repeated.

"My olfactive sensors are…"

"Oh shut up," Bakugo cut him off, stepping away from the dry fluids and over to the back of the alley, his eyes narrowing.

There were the typical graffitis over the walls, trash cans upturned, but no stray animal or any movement except for a light breeze. He could sense the stench of feces and other unmentionables and almost wished he had skipped dinner. Among the graffitis was a strange scribble that caught his attention. There was a series of steps drawn in the wall, and a man's silhouette standing at the top. Depending on the angle at which someone would look, he could make out a silver glint in the guy's head. And numbers… Red numbers in a loop of 0 and 1, each of them drawn like the squary digits an alarm clock would show in the middle of the night. It should have been a print, not paint, but Bakugo sensed the roughness of dry paint along the brick as he touched one finger to it.

"I don't think it's quite sanitary…," Deku started from behind him.

Ground Zero retorted by snapping a picture of the graffiti, pretty certain his android had done the same already.

"There's been more and more tags left by androids lately," he declared simply as he got back up. "When stuff like you lose it, it can be even worse than a bad guy with a quirk."

Android deviancy was still rare, but the few cases that had happened, while kept hushed, had left people scarred for life. The best example he knew was Ingenium's family, which had been decimated by the family's butler android in a fit of rage. Only the younger son, Tenya Iida, had survived, and was now attending UA school, but according to Kirishima, the guy was so awkward he looked like a robot himself.

"Do you stop deviants?" Deku asked him, blinking once as Bakugo stared at him blankly.

The moment passed, after the blue led turning on Deku's head had flashed green twice, Katsuki clearing his throat.

He wasn't going to worry about that thing going deviant, was he? That was the worst possible scenario. A deviant with Izuku's face. He was getting a cold sweat just thinking of it and doing everything he could to keep his reactions in check. He was being monitored by the thing after all. He didn't want another diagnostic until the next day if he could forego them.

"Can't say I have, but if one of those fuckers try to hurt people on my watch, you can be sure they're getting trashed."

Bakugo noticed how the android swallowed and nearly hung his head with a sense of defeat. He wasn't even trying to make it nervous!

Just as he was raising a hand to grab that Deku impostor's collar to shake some sense into him, there was a shrilling scream and both of them turned in the direction of the sound, rushing to the main road.

"Run, run, run, pretty flesh, soon I'll see your insides!" a guttural voice exulted.

"Fuck!" Bakugo snapped.

He took off into a run, lighting an explosion with his left hand to jump onto the deserted bar's roof, Deku rushing after him with two jumps, trying to catch a movement that would belong to whomever had made those threats.

"Do you know…?"

"Check your damn database, Deku, if we lose that freak, it will be chopped up bodies everywhere."

The android noted the fact his master had referred to the both of them losing the thing. Of course, that comment about chopped up people wasn't lost on his database. Deku ran three simulatuneous searches and determined their target to be a villain called Moonfish.

He instantly made the appropriate calculations.

::There's 46 % risk of Bakugo getting crippled in a fight against that man.::

"This is much too dangerous…"

But his master was already preparing another explosion. In fact, a string of explosions, which helped him fly four blocks to the south. Deku braced his motor sensors, his legs rushing on paved ceilings as he leapt and rolled on himself, catching up just in time to feel the heat of the following explosion.

Bakugo was a man on a hunt right now. His patrols weren't always this well timed, but if he could prevent someone, anyone really of hurting people... It might just make his slate look cleaner.

He caught himself, finding footing on concrete, tiles and creaking wood, his senses focused on the materials around him in case his explosions could catch on anything that would light a spark. He'd never been quite subtle with his quirk, but against someone like Moonfish, who was only after eating up more flesh, a hero wouldn't want to catch his attention.

 _No one's doing their damn job!_

There were running footsteps and yelps of pure terror as whatever victim Moonfish had spotted tried desperately to put some distance between them and their pursuer. Bakugo got a glimpse of white tendrils that were elongated teeth and felt a metallic taste in his mouth, realizing he'd bitten his tongue too hard.

 _No time to be scared,_ he told himself.

One minute there had been a wall and the next one, bricks were falling in its stead, the threads of strong and metal-like teeth rushing after a panicked man.

It seemed to be a middle aged civilian, from Deku's point of view, his sensors spotting a suitcase given up in the middle of the street. It was hard to explain how anyone would come to such a desolate place, but his data told him that misery among humans usually attracted more misery.

 _Moonfish is a dangerous man with an insatiable appetite. His brief association with the League of Villains was cut short after the passing of All for One. Roaming free ever since, he's been leaving little to no trace of his victims…_ came up his data files.

"Master Bakugo!" 1-4411 tried calling him back, leaping after him as the teenager blasted himself up and forward.

Somehow, the dirty blond had found a technique allowing him to move in almost perfect silence despite using his explosive quirk. It required a lot of focus though, so he was tuning out his guardian robot, half his brain entirely set on remaining unseen and the rest of his mind struggling to come up with a sound strategy to defeat Moonfish.

"You can't face him in close combat and debris won't hurt him unless you can shatter enough of his teeth," Deku told him as he landed next to him.

Bakugo nearly jumped, but managed to keep still, throwing him a glare.

"I know that," he growled, kicking against the concrete ceiling, sparks popping from his hands to propel him forward.

Deku registered the length and height of the jump, the velocity and the way his master's body shook at the rough landing.

::This kind of physical prowess has a 73% chance of causing permanent strain. Advise a gentler way of locomotion::

But he needed to prioritize the very dangerous encounter Bakugo was running to.

"Bakugo, any long range attack will have you located and he moves about twice as fast as you do," the android warned, his new jump landing him next to the blond. He panted from it, and as always, he determined it was only to make his master more comfortable.

"You think you've fully measured me and my abilities?!" the teenager hissed. "I know that guy is dangerous, okay? I'm gonna blow his brains out."

With every new leap, Bakugo was growing more and more restless. Normally he would consider blowing something up as a distraction and grabbing the civilian while Moonfish wasn't looking. He wasn't always looking for trouble, unlike what his mother seemed to believe. But it was late and quite dark, the villain was dressed in all black, and was as agile as a freaking spider. The way his elongated teeth glinted whenever they caught the moonlight scared him. He might be a daredevil, but he wasn't above fear. He was used to bruisers and speedy villains. To petty crimes and your every day thief or drunk bastard. He could topple a mountain of muscles and blow out the eardrums of a gang, but the level of precision to use his quirk in such a way came with a price. All the silent explosions were already making him dizzy and the sight of a grown-up Deku wasn't helping.

He was literally being followed by a ghost. On the fourth ceiling, he felt his hand closing on his shoulder and heaved a tiny gasp as he realized one finger was lightly crooked against his collarbone. He had to look down to confirm his suspicion, which meant taking his eyes off his target, and there really was a crooked finger on the robot, it was only visible at an angle but…

 _Stop, stop, you're imagining things, you want him to be real, but he's not…_

There was too much adrenaline in his sytem, how could he think right with the green-haired abomination next to him?

"There a 90 % chance this villain catches up to his victim before you do," the android declared candidly.

He blinked saying it and his led lit up like a Christmas tree, but Bakugo was stuck at the words he'd just heard. Deku had never, ever addressed death casually, even as a young boy. He'd lost his father in a freak accident and admired heroes for preventing those kind of accidents in the first place. Right now, it sounded like the robot couldn't care less about the guy running for his life and Bakugo wasn't going to pretend he cared either. He was _trying_ , in the memory of the friend he hadn't been able to protect.

When he blinked, he could almost see his tiny face, lit up by emergency alarms, their hands shaking together as the world around them felt like nothing but fire and explosions.

"You can take those probabilities and go fuck yourself, trash can," he hacked out, pushing him away and behind him as he switched strategies.

A dozen new sparks lit up a pillar of light above him, smoke running wild while the sounds of explosions finally broke into the night. The civilian tried catching his breath while the tied-up degenerate coming after him halted in his steps, shifting around.

"Oy, fish-shit!" Bakugo taunted him. "How about quirk flesh on the menu tonight?"

1-4411 processed the motions his master was going through. The deliberate way he pointed at himself with his thumb. The smirk he could picture even though he was standing a few steps behind his back. How the teenager didn't show any intention of moving as he waited for the villain to react.

-You shouldn't have budged. That shrug wasn't enough to be taken by surprise-, his system reminded him.

 _Running scan…_

::Anomaly detected. Civilians have priority over prime directive?::

 _01101110 01101111_. _01101110 01101111_. _01101110 01101111_.

He couldn't let Bakugo face this type of quirk without trying something first. A rescue protocol was running through his drivers, but he had already removed the very option of contacting the authorities. Bakugo would be saved _and_ arrested, and his parents had been clear. The young man had to be kept out of trouble. Deku should have worried about the fact he was bypassing a lot of laws in the android world. He should have been running a dozen diagnostics, but multiple wires had crossed in his cores.

::New prime directive – Keep Katsuki Bakugo unharmed. Emergency preventive measures protocol activated::

The blue led on his temple shone green as he crouched down to gather momentum. He held his breath and started the countdown, eyes fixed on the back of the young vigilante.

30 meters.

All Bakugo knew was that Moonfish had taken his bait and was rushing to him, this teeth acting as insect legs, clawing his way up and down and across streets.

20 meters.

"What's this? What's this? How foolish do they make kids these days?"

15 meters.

 _If you lose a limb, you're done_ , he warned himself, both of his palms held down, his chest pulling backward.

A backjump to toss Deku out of the way and he'd blow the freaking building. He knew it was empty, pretty much everything was empty and when it wasn't, you could bet some crap villains were hiding so toppling this suburb was actually a favor to the people. Among his previous sparks, he had sent a few timed blows and was sweating bullets to hold them back until just the right time.

10 meters…

 _Now!_

Bakugo was halfway through his jump, when he felt an arm wrapping around his mid-section, his breath cut short as his chest hit a back that he'd imagined much leaner.

"What the fuck are you…?!"

"Hold on tight, Bakugo!" Deku cut him short, energy crackling at his feet as he leaped backward, making sure his body was facing Moonfish and that he shielded Bakugo properly.

From upside down, the blond man had a good view at a very tight and muscled pair of buttocks and the wind blowing at Deku's pants as his legs folded into the jump. He didn't dare to try sending explosions, but he was already starting to regret not giving anything looking like a mask to the droid. That thing had Izuku's face and the last think Inko Midoriya needed was to see a grown-up version of her son making the first page of the newspapers.

"This was not…!"

Moonfish's teeth clicked against concrete and Deku barely took any time to touch solid ground, jumping once more, about five stories high this time.

 _How can he do this, he's only supposed to be a recreative companion model, isn't he?!_

"Put me down, put me down…!"

"Quiet, Bakugo," Deku shot back.

He could imagine his friend growing up the nerves to talk back to him like that.

 _There's a killer after us, it's not the time to…_

"Let me have that flesh!" Moonfish hissed.

Bakugo kicked and struggled to shift around, even if that meant he had to grab onto Deku's waist to somehow hoist himself in an even weirder position, his only aim being to see what was actually going on. His explosions were their only chances and he knew better than to shoot blindly with those.

"Could you watch the rear, my sensors are having some difficulties…"

 _That frigging robot._

"Don't fucking grab me if you can't look where we're going!"

They needed to land to move again and Bakugo realized that the shock of moving had him forgetting about his timed sparks. They had totally fizzled out by now and he couldn't plant more, he needed to be free for that, so he twisted around, throwing one arm over Deku's chest. He felt a pounding against his wrist, like a heart beating too fast and he could hear him panting over the wind, his brain still trying to process why they had made that thing so real.

" _Kacchan!"_

"You better not need your eardrums," Bakugo groaned, finally getting a view of the villain after them and also of the half collapsed building they were rushing towards.

At this point, he wasn't sure if Deku had jumped or if he was flying. He lit a new spark straight up above them, blinking as quickly as possible to better orient them with a second one. Moonfish could stand as tall as whatever jump the android made, but adjusting to sudden shift was another thing. The freaky teeth bent and rushed through the air, the robot holding Bakugo behind him, and extending one leg to meet the razor sharp teeth, kicking back against it. The following explosions merely slowed them down as they flew into an open room, crashing against each other on the debris-covered floor.

"Oww, dammit."

Somehow, the android had gotten himself under him and Bakugo couldn't move away fast enough, but Deku was rolling him around already, aiming to shield him again.

"You're going to stop doing that, I'm the attacker here, remember?"

1-4411 was ready to point out they had never agreed to team up, he had taken that upon himself after calculating the risks involved with the situation, but he gasped instead, his system sending alarms up his left leg.

"Oh darn…"

Bakugo frowned, looking down to see that one of the robot's feet wasn't attached anymore. Blue blood had dripped down the clean cut and Deku leaned over him for the shortest time as he readjusted his balance. The blond's mind blanched on him, rushing back to the feeling of green hair and blood stuck between his hands.

 _No. No, no, no, no._

"He was that fucking close?!"

 _Not again!_

::High distress signals detected. Cut limb irrigation for piece number… ::

"And I'm back, boys!" Moonfish bellowed, throwing a shadow over them as he reached their floor.

Bakugo didn't think, he pushed Deku down, setting a path of explosions straight to the mad man, a few teeth crackling, but Moonfish didn't budge.

"Baku…!"

Katsuki could hear the boy's voice echoing in his head and felt small and weak all over again. He screamed, his palm closing as a tooth slashed at him, raising his other hand and keeping Deku down with one knee, refusing to be treated as some pathetic thing that needed to be protected.

 _Izuku_ had done that and he refused to see it happening again, even if it was a fake. His heart was too tight, and he couldn't breathe through the smoke, he needed less smoke and more visibility and there was no running possible, not with a one-footed droid he needed to drag around, but at least the civilians had to be safe and the fire from his explosions was reaching the man's weird clothes now.

 _I'm not sweating enough_ , _I'm getting cold,_ Bakugo realized with dread.

That wasn't just him.

:: Temperature dropping quickly::

Frost came out of Moonfish's mouth as he hung by the edge of the apartment, a grotesque spider with its teeth planted in the ceiling and the floor, literal ice growing on every one of its elongated limbs.

Bakugo was trying to deal with the flow of memories, the burn in his palms and the fact his whole body was beyond sore. His lungs threatened to seize as snow powder lifted from nowhere, preceding a teenage boy with white and red hair and a large burn scar on his face. Deku recognized him as the teenage vagrant, Shouto Todoroki.

 _Son of Endeavor who turned away from his father, he lives in the streets, bringing winter along with him wherever he goes. Is mostly considered like a rebellious brat by the authority but could be responsible for multiple arsons,_ his database told him.

Todoroki was living off thieving and he wasn't taking more than what he needed, dressed in torn jeans and a rumpled gray shirt that might have been white, beneath a black hooded vest.

"I should have known I'd find a half-cocked vigilante wannabe up here," the half-cold half-hot quirk user sighed, his breath coming out in white puffs.

Bakugo bare his teeth at him, gritting them so hard, his jaw ached.

"Todoroki?" Deku asked, blinking as he tried to understand how the tables had turned.

If the young wonder was an outlaw, why would we interfere in this situation?

Todoroki's bi-colored eyes fell on the android and twitched as he took in the blue blood on the floor, the bewildered look and the freckles on his pale face.

The ice that had kept growing behind him shifted into pure flames, the teenager closing his left fist, rage gripping his features as Moonfish's teeth broke down, making the man topple backward in a silent scream.

The three of them stood there in heavy silence, staring or glaring at each other as they tried to catch their breath. Bakugo was holding his good hand up, feeling blood on his other palm and hoping it wouldn't disrupt his quirk.

"What is this, huh?" Todoroki started, "I think I spot Izuku, and come to check and it's a fucking robot?!"

"Fuck off, Half and half."

This was bringing up new memories that Bakugo didn't have the patience to face. He couldn't breathe normally, his chest was too tight and Deku was not moving next to him, simply staring and assimilating every detail, like he would do as a boy.

The three of them used to be friends once upon a time. And Bakugo would never forget how badly Todoroki had reacted to Deku's death. If there was anyone on Earth he didn't want to meet the android his parents had bought, it would be that guy. So of course, some sick person had to push Todoroki into their path.

"Who's Izuku?" Deku asked.

"He doesn't even know?!" came Shouto's furious growl.

Bakugo's head was starting to hurt, but as he pushed himself up to his feet, it was only to tumble backward as Todoroki threw his elbow at him.

"Hey!" Deku wanted to protest, gasping as the hot and cold vagrant forced him to a standing position. "What are you…?"

His green eyes turned to Bakugo, as though to ask him what he was expecting from him. The poor thing looked awfully lost.

"You had a grown-up copy made of him so you could play vigilante together?" Todoroki accused the dirty blond.

"My pa…!"

"You're just sick. Having him customized down to the freckles and everything… What is he making you do?"

"I'm just looking after him. Both of your readings are very distressed, I… Am I a grieving model?"

The two other boys blinked, Bakugo realizing he hadn't even considered it.

"A grieving model?! They even do _that kinda_ thing?"

Deku simply nodded to Todoroki, putting on a brave face, standing on his good leg with some difficulty. Bakugo wanted to pull them apart, sensing a slow but definite anger towards Todoroki for the way he was handling the robot.

"So I was made after someone? Is it who Deku is?" 1-4411 insisted.

 _I don't want this. I don't want this_ , Katsuki thought, biting on his tongue hard enough to draw blood.

"Izuku Midoriya," Todoroki answered. "We used to be friends. Then Midoriya made the mistake of following that foolish firecracker into some factory and got himself killed."

"I told you it's not what happened!" Bakugo roared.

"Yeah, well I don't care. You got him killed or he got himself killed following you, what matters is that replacing him with this thing is _sick_."

He punctuated his words by pushing against Deku's chest, effectively making him fall back on his butt.

"I'm not sure I follow," the android whispered, throwing one more glance to Bakugo who was torn between seething and accepting the upcoming breakdown he'd been fighting off at the first mention of Izuku. "Izuku Midoriya died over eleven years ago according to my files."

"Shitty timing for a grief model," Todoroki answered to his observation. "But everything's shitty about the Bakugos…"

"Oy, shut the fuck…!"

"You don't want to hear it, huh?"

"Don't bully Bakugo like that," Deku cut things off, grabbing on Todoroki's pants.

The sight should have been pathetic, but the robot was showing signs of anger, his free hand turning into a fist and Bakugo was almost curious to see where things would go. Although he didn't want Todoroki either of his mutated quirk on his green-haired android.

"What, you're going to come at me when I can burn you like a crisp?"

"It would be logical to assume that if you were really friends with that Midoriya kid, you wouldn't go all out. That boy was quirkless according to the records and I…" A frown made his forehead crease and his hesitation had both other teenagers frowning too. "I am not the same as he was."

"Of course you're not…!"

Todoroki was cut short by the uppercut Deku threw into his stomach, the metal fist digging into him, his ribs shifting as he was pushed backward on a good twenty centimeters.

"Enough!" 1-4411 insisted. "You might have saved us, but you're distressing Bakugo with all the stuff you're saying."

 _He's still monitoring me. He's bleeding and being threatened and all he can focus on is stupid freakish me,_ Katsuki chided himself.

"What are you doing?! Androids aren't supposed to attack humans…" Todoroki coughed

Deku's system was running too many searches at once. It was diagnosing his current state, trying to keep tracks on that Moonfish fellow, but his vitals had stopped registering and shortcircuits were popping all over his drivers.

Midoriya. Now the name Bakugo's father had started calling him made sense. Now the awkwardness and harshness from his master had a meaning outside of him being an antisocial human being. Now he could find pictures and articles on the accidents and every new glimpse of information had a new anomaly detected. He couldn't process air through his nostrils. His cartridges were flashing between circuitry, his eyes unfocused as he gathered intel from a locked disc that shouldn't have been installed.

Interviews were playing in his ears, the data pouring out, a familiar name sending a ripple of shock that made no sense, served no purpose. Inko. The boy's mother. A grieving companion unit was rare, usually ordered by eccentric masters who would drive themselves to even deeper depression by living with a mechanic ghost.

::I don't want to be that. Not _only_ that…::

 _-System error-_

The remnant of some quirkless kid? When he could jump like he did? When he had kicks strong enough to bend down the teeth of freaks like Moonfish?

"I'm not supposed to let humans die either, but I did nothing to stop you from burning Moonfish," Deku heard himself stating. His voice sounded cold. An hybrid of what he was trying to emulate so far.

His directive was shifting. If he was a grieving unit, simply looking after Bakugo wasn't enough. He had to _be_ his lost friend. To be even better than anything that Izuku could promise to the future.

"There's no rule I won't break as long as I can respect my prime directive."

::Burning me would mean a fire strong enough to harm Bakugo even if he was standing even further away. He appears shell-shocked right now. Must get rid of the distraction::

But even that was changing, his perceptions trying to process. Too many anomalies. Too many warnings. Some of his power was rerouted and he felt dizzy as he couldn't hold his weight with both legs. His scans told him he was uneven.

Something was wrong, very wrong, and he hadn't been programmed to grasp it. His throat tightened with a weight that might be a broken component, but he would later wonder if his emotion feature hadn't just derailed. He felt anger. Unparalleled wrath. He couldn't pinpoint what had caused it. Was it the data? The update to his real station? The fact Bakugo himself didn't ask for a grieving unit, that someone else had ordered him and ended up thinking again, leaving him to dust away until his creators sold him off for cheap to the next best buyer?

Apparently, he wasn't devoid of pride. Another anomaly to add to the growing list.

Todoroki's anger was gone, his face white, his breathing coming out in puffs of vapor as the temperature cooled down.

"You need to have that thing checked," Shouto surmised, summoning a board of ice for him to stand on.

He was away without another word, Deku lowering his fist only then, a strong sigh escaping from his lips. His leg buckled, his hands catching him and as he turned his focus back to Bakugo, he felt the final anomaly.

"So this is why you kept getting angry at me for not being real. Pretty unfair, isn't it? I think and I even breathe," 1-4411 observed, sounding dejected.

Katsuki shook his head at him.

"Stop it."

"How? I'm based on your childhood friend. I'm the best way for you to go mad _and_ to feel better and I can't change that. I can bleach my hair, change my lens color, find a new voice monitor, but there will always be a thing that triggers you."

"You've been around for mere days, give me some fucking time to adjust!"

The android's mouth opened, but the round led on his temple was spinning a brighter and brighter green and his left eye blinked.

"I… There's an error. My memory will be rebooted in… Kats…!"

" _Kacchan!"_

"Wait, Deku… Are you going to…?"

The green hair rose on its head as his left eye closed and his right eyelids twitched, his throat emitting a noise that was nowhere close to human. Like a spark. Bakugo got to his feet, rushing toward him, gasping as the robot reacted by grabbing him by both wrists, effectively halting him in his track. A light came from beneath his eyes, flashing, blaring, green and strong enough to show the intricate veins forming one eyeball.

"Reboot will go back to fifteen minutes prior to time 04.34. Unit will resume full function in four…Three…"

"The fuck?"

"Two."

So maybe android Deku was a grieving unit, but apparently, a failsafe in his system didn't want him to know. Bakugo wasn't sure this was what he wanted.

"One."

The program's voice shifted back to Deku's unmistakably kinder voice.

"What just… Did I reboot?"

Bakugo kneeled in front of him, his mind processing the past few hours.

"The hell was that?"

1-4411 shivered, shaking his head as he tried to collect himself. Collect his sensors and focus on the fact…

"That villain is dead!"

"Yeah… Can we agree we're not calling the cops until we've evac?"

A brief nod, and then the robot was shaken by a shiver.

"You're wounded!" the droid realized, his eyes widening as he turned Katsuki's hand around. "I can barely remember how you got wounded. That was a serious reboot. I need to fix you quick, I fear the muscles were touched. I have nanotech on me, somewhere." He paused.

Bakugo wanted to think it was an it, but something had changed and he couldn't. When his big green eyes came back up to look into his, he could barely think at all. Deku -the robot- looked scared.

"I don't like losing my memories. It's much too early for that, I'm still learning how to be a good recreative companion. Bakugo, do you… Would you… happen to know what triggered my reboot?"

Bakugo swallowed and nodded slowly.

"If you can prevent it from happening again, will you…" Another pause and this time, Katsuki could have sworn he saw tears in those eyes and there was no gulping down the knot in his throat by then. "Please?"

"I… Yeah. Yeah, don't worry."

 _He's scared. He's just as scared as I am._

"Why would they program you to be scared?" he couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. I just… Is it weird to be afraid when you have no real autonomy? I don't want to go back to the factory's labs…"

The tears fell down then, Deku being the first surprised as he realized they were even there.

"What a waste, I should be… I'm sorry, I must be malfunctioning again."

" _Why do you always have to be such a crybaby!"_

" _So… Sorry Kacchan."_

There was a sob stuck in Katsuki's throat as he remembered the same bewildered look on Izuku's face. He would never be able to call him that. But he could already tell the android would throw punches and break laws for him and that was almost scarier than a robot that could cry on its own loss memories.

"You did just lose a foot," Bakugo grumbled.

"Trying yourself at humor? That's a very good coping mechanism, Bakugo!" Deku congratulated him, managing a laugh through his tears.

"Oh fuck off!" his mouth said. But his heart was bleeding out a little.

 _God help me._

To be continued…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

I will be doing my best to keep the updates more frequent, but you can still expect a couple months in between, I work four days a week (thank you god for giving me something stable) I have a thesis to finish (one day I'll work on it instead of saying I should work on it) and I have a plethora of stories in FFXV that also need to be finished. I'm a bit of a scatterbrain lol.

In next chapter, hurt/comfort, another villain and hopefully the boys are going to get a bit closer. Reviews make me happy!


	4. Fighting nightmares

A new chapter! Nightmare and nightmare fuel plus a lot of fluff, since the boys grow closer together. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Deku becomes human

Chapter 4 – Fighting nightmares

It was the fifth night with the android around and for the nth time, Bakugo woke up in a cold sweat, his sheets too tight, his breathing ragged. His eyes were sore from not sleeping enough, one of his palms aching. They had gone out one more time, stopping some petty criminal and finding the latest victim of the mud-villain just too late to make a difference. Bakugo couldn't remember his last dream, all he knew was that getting away from it was a matter of life and death and blinking away faint pictures of blood didn't help with the panic still ruling his nerves.

His sense of fear spiked as he felt a gaze on him, his red eyes shifting from beneath the hand holding his hair down. He was pulling at it again. Then he saw the green eyes looking straight at him with worry and a strange glint of curiosity and the shock felt as fresh as the first day.

"Fuck, don't stare at me when I sleep!" he barked at Deku.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't…! My sensors are trained on you, there was a spike of anxiety and I…"

 _He can read me like a freaking book_ , Bakugo mentally chided himself.

"I'm not…!"

Anger-management. Stress therapy. Zootherapy. Crystals. Gestalt or even psychodrama.

The knot forming in his throat grew tighter as Bakugo remembered the new pamphlets his mother had tried to hide from him when he'd barged into the kitchen the other day. She knew he was getting worse. She knew and the one thing that would help, to take away the intruder who looked so much like Izuku… well it was the one thing she wouldn't do. His father was adamant too.

"How long has it been?" the android asked.

Bakugo tried ignoring him, tried to focus on not pulling on his hair anymore and on relaxing his shoulders.

 _Breathe. Slowly._

Focusing on it made him feel like he had his head underwater and he couldn't repress the shudders that followed as the muscles in his legs twitched.

"Bakugo," Deku sighed.

"How long has what been?!" the dirty-blond hissed, throwing one fist in the air, his other hand closing over the covers of his bed.

The droid blinked at him, his Adam apple moving up and down as he swallowed.

"How long since you've had a full night sleep? How long since there weren't any bad dreams waking you up?"

His voice remained calm as he asked and Bakugo wanted to punch him, but instead, he pondered the question, turning his head to the dark wall across his bed. Shelves of books waiting to be studied.

"I… I don't fucking know," he admitted.

Looking back at the robot from the corner of his eyes, Katsuki was shocked to see it hanging his head a little. It barely lasted a second, then Deku was getting to his feet and offering him a light smile. His led was the same, constant blue, with those few, intermittent flashes of green.

"I have an idea to offer," Deku started. "And if it doesn't work, I'll never propose it again, I just can't think of anything else at the top of my head."

Bakugo eyed him suspiciously as the android took a ginger step forward.

"What is it?"

"I can lie next to you."

"Are you insane?!"

"Contact and touch are powerful comfort tools. You can't keep this up much longer, you'll slip up during a vigilante mission and while I have all my limbs back and attached, I am not enough on my own to keep you safe out there," Deku noted, sadness permeating his voice.

"I will not…!"

"You need sleep. And to be less stubborn. Try it?"

Bakugo was exhausted down to his bones and he knew the thing had a point. But did he want him that close? Just having it in the same room as him at all times was aggravating enough as it was, wasn't it?

" _What are you doing, Deku? I can't breathe!"_

" _I'm sorry Kacchan, I had a nightmare, so I…"_

 _Big tears were showing in his eyes and the small Katsuki understood this had to be one of those nightmares about his father. He clumsily wrapped an arm around his friend's back. They were having a sleepover at his place, their first one since Midoriya-san had disappeared._

" _Come here, stupid crybaby."_

 _He forced Izuku to place his head in the hollow of his neck, closer to his chest, where his mother would place kisses and his father would tickle him senseless if he was good._

" _Kacchan!"_

" _You can focus on my heartbeat like this. It will help you sleep," the young boy had declared._

And they'd fallen asleep like this, entangled in each other. On the following afternoon, Bakugo remembered getting mad at the fact Deku had to go home and Deku crying and Inko Midoriya offering to take both boys with her for an extended sleepover.

They'd been like brothers, looking out for each other, exploring the world together. With Deku running after him, Bakugo had always felt brave. And now another Deku was here, a grown-up version with replaceable limbs, but freckles, with a metal frame, but soft skin…

"How about it?"

Bakugo blinked at him, realizing he had been staring while drifting back to the past. He was so tired of doing that…

"Do you snore?"

"I would be badly programmed if I did," Deku chuckled.

Bakugo wanted to grasp at more excuses, more reasons to refuse, but his brain was fizzling from the sheer accumulated fatigue.

 _I don't want to be comforted. I don't need to be comforted. Who needs comfort from a machine?_

"I guess it's fine. There's no way it will work and you'll be back on the floor before you know it."

"Is that a threat?" Deku asked him, raising a green brow in studied doubt.

Bakugo heaved a sigh and dropped himself back against his pillows, crossing his arms over his chest. His breathing had calmed somehow, but the panic was still there deep down. The android climbed on the mattress, giving him a worried look as he tried to decipher what position would be the best way to help his master.

"I don't want to take up space, but…"

"This was your idea. You tell me how you planned to help," Bakugo cut him off, bearing his teeth.

Deku clicked his tongue at that, reaching one hand to his tight jaw.

"First you need to remember how to relax."

"Don't touch my face!" Bakugo snapped, pushing his hand away.

"I'm sorry," Deku whispered, looking genuinely contrite. "Bakugo, you're… you're shaking!" he added, the worry stronger than ever.

"Can you just fucking lay down and shut up?"

"Okay, okay. Don't blow me up, please?"

Bakugo muttered more curses under his breath, huffing as the droid finally decided that his master was getting a hug. Of course, there was the initial tensing from the sudden closeness and a rumbled groan going up Bakugo's throat. Deku had wrapped one arm around his back, leaning his other one under the pillows to sneak close enough they could share their warmth. His database had a lot of comfort theories, but the practice was something else and he knew this was a gamble. Somehow, it felt like the right thing to do.

"I do have a heartbeat, so if you want to focus on it," Deku offered.

Katsuki's throat seized on a hacked breath.

 _No, no, this isn't…_

"I don't…" His voice got stuck as something inside protested against his reason.

Deku was here. His Deku. He could feel him breathing. He could sense a pulse from the wrist brushing against his neck. He wanted to press closer, to hide, or to hide him from the world and from the reality that waited for him to remember that this dream was a travesty.

"Bakugo, it's okay…" Deku whispered.

"Don't…!"

The hand on his back reached up to brush his hair and somehow that was it. The iron wall Katsuki had valiantly kept up was cracking down.

"You're safe here."

Bakugo wanted to shake his head at him, but if he did, he would smell the scent of his own shampoo on the droid's hair. This felt surreal and he had no escape, the young man wasn't sure he wanted to escape at this point. Instinct took over, his body folding on itself, his ears wishing for the promised heartbeat. He could lull himself to sleep with the illusion at least once, couldn't he?

Deku froze as he sensed the shift in atmosphere, as the shaking of his master somehow calmed down but didn't stop. Bakugo snuck his head down against the robot's chest, his knuckles brushing against the fabric of his shirt and gripping into it as guilt and pain took over.

"It was my fault," he managed despite his cracking voice.

"What?"

"It was my…" his chest heaved, his nose digging into Deku's chest now.

"Bakugo, stop. Whatever happened…"

"I can't fucking stop, I was…"

Another touch to his hair, heavier this time. Bakugo's eyes burned and he hated himself for sounding this weak, but for once, the person – the thing, it was a thing, he needed to remember- the _thing_ listening wasn't telling him he was delusional or something.

 _Forgive me, Deku, forgive me, I should be better than this, I should be over it and not dragging your memories down with me, I shouldn't need that thing's help, but I'm fucked up and sick and all wrong and it aches all the time, so bad, I can't… I can't…_

"Take your time, Katsuki," he heard Deku telling him. "You're safe here. You're safe."

Sleep found him as he hid and trembled. The first nightmareless sleep he had in a long time

…

" _Just give up already."_

His throat was gunky, and his hair looked green.

" _Your quirk's mine!"_

His arms were beyond sore, everything was, but it felt like all the fibers of his forearms had been ripped and sewn back together.

" _Bakugo!" Deku had screamed._ _ **Screamed**_ _._

The thing had never raised its voice until that night.

It was half-over and Bakugo was scrubbing and scratching and scalding himself clean as he tried to erase every sensation imposed on him. The stench was stuck in his nostrils, imprinted in his brain and he wanted to throw up but he was scared to see an eye popping in the bile and just thinking of it made him shudder, and his legs were too weak.

Weak. How weak he was. To ever think he could call himself a vigilante had been a horrible, horrible mistake.

He blinked and his mind went back to that back-alley where they'd found him.

The sludge villain.

He'd barely lit a spark and the thing was spreading like a virus, wrapping around him like a toxic blanket, slipping past his clothes, past his gloves and his mask.

He'd felt the wetness on his eyeballs. Up in his throat. All the way down his back, up his thighs and wrapping and seizing and invading and…

A broken sound rumbled from deep inside and he was scared it might not be himself making it.

When you felt your own body being turned into a puppet, how were you supposed to know it had stopped?

The lights were on in the bathroom, he hadn't drawn the curtain because he needed to see the room, to see anyone coming in. He couldn't see his reflection clearly in the mirror because of the steam but that was fine. His eyes burned from the soap and he knew the water trickling down his cheeks wasn't just from the shower head. His feet shifted and slipped, and he kept his balance with his shoulder against the wall, trying to cope with the stuff falling against the bathtub.

Green gunk. Dried blood and more gunk and sometimes… sometimes there were a different color and it looked like it blinked at him, and he was torn between the need to squash it down under his foot or just screech.

He could scratch himself bloody all he liked, but the taste and the horrifying feeling was still sticking to his skin. He wasn't alone, he'd never feel alone anymore.

"Stop shaking," he chided himself.

His voice sounded weird. Hoarse from the stuff forced down, burned by the bile as his body tried to vomit, to push away the invader, only for the creep to force it back the way it came. Just that thought made him gag and he swallowed, more tears burning his weary eyes.

Katsuki wanted to curl down in a ball, but the gunk was still being drained out and he wanted it away, he needed it gone.

 _Left arm's good, right arm's good, your back's as good as it's gonna get, nothing is falling from your ears anymore…_

There was a spot he needed to clean, and he wasn't sure how. He'd tried reaching back to it a few times already and ended up not following through because the thought that sludge and gunk had reached even there…

"Man up, you wretch," he angrily hissed to himself.

Being an asshole to everyone around him half the time certainly didn't mean he needed to keep his own ass…

 _This wasn't a rape, who cares if it was anyway, you're fine._

Deku had lined up stuff on the edge of the bath tub for him, including a plastic glove and suddenly it made sense. Putting it on when he was already drenched was quite the ordeal, but it also gave Bakugo the time he needed to collect some of his thoughts.

"Wow, you're still conscious? Tough kid." The sludgy man had laughed, squeezing his entire body to the point Katsuki wondered if his skin wasn't too tight over his flesh.

"Stop it," he warned himself.

Looking down at himself, he made sure no goo remained among his pubic hair, his nails digging into his left thigh as a hundred thoughts hurled about. He could tell there were traces left of that… dreadful thing… inside of him. And forcing it out meant acknowledging just how far his being had been violated.

 _Yes, that's what it was. That's what you put Deku through by dragging him along with you._

That had to be what he regretted the most. The android had rushed to his aid and been toyed with just like he had. He remembered him coughing and gasping. The electricity running out of him as one of his eyes was revulsed, the other one fading into green text on a black iris. Green hair drowning in all that green fluid. His clothes swelling as the goo gathered him fully. The fabric of his shirt had actually been torn apart as his chest was flung open -because someone somewhere thought android's mechanisms should be reachable and it had been… Blinking had been torture and looking had been torture, but what Deku had been through had felt inhuman and wrong in a dozen ways. Just thinking about it right had Bakugo losing any control he'd had on his legs, falling to his knees, heaved sobs shifting into outright barfing.

"Everything alright?" came Deku's worried voice almost instantly and Katsuki could have screamed if his throat still worked.

"Fine!" he managed after hurling and clearing his throat.

He was ready to beg any god for his parents to remain asleep. If his mother was to see him like this. She'd ask questions he couldn't answer without breaking and he felt too broken as it was.

 _Hurry up and finish this fucking torture._

He pushed himself to his knees and up to his feet, quickly cleaning up the bathtub and reached up when he'd surmised there was no more bile on him. Then he reached back with gritted teeth, feeling all sorts of miserable as he effectively heard the splashing of more fluids against the bottom of the bath.

 _There'll be nothing left after that_ , he told himself.

The position was anything but comfortable, but he twisted his wrist, jumping at the foreign sensation against inner nerves. A tiny gasp made it past his lips as his gloved fingertip brushed against one spot, a gasp that had nothing to do with horror or pain, and a veil of shame fell on the guilt already threatening to swallow him whole.

He didn't want any pleasure, nothing remotely good could be associated with the traces of his encounter… The water was running cold now and he barely realized his own shivers, his gestures rough as he took off the gloves, cut down the water and tried to take a step out. The towels on the floor looked dirty and the one waiting for him by the vanity was so far. Washing up was done and his brain should have focused on whatever new task could keep it distracted from what had happened, but his mind was playing tricks on him. Showing him dark greens in every corner of the room, making his heart jump at the thought sludge could surge forward and take a hold of him once more.

Deku had been the one saving the day. Something had reacted within the android, a failsafe system or a defense mechanism. Dark claw-like tendrils had cut through the villain, a whirlwind of pure energy scattering him into thin air. Bakugo remembered the feel of the rainy wind all over him, blowing him clean of the invasion.

"How the fuck did he do that?" the dirty blond still wondered.

"Bakugo?" Deku called out. "Can I come in? I… My circuits need a thorough wash too."

He sounded apologetic and Katsuki felt bad for taking so long. Moving around felt like too much, so he just managed a weak "Am all done". It then registered to him that he was still naked and anything but dry, but Deku was pushing the door open and appraising the situation for himself.

If Bakugo had been more focused, he'd noticed how the robots' green eyes did a once over and the jerky motion with which it shook its head to chide himself. He was just scanning his master for injuries, why would a robot check someone out?

"You're going to catch a cold like that," Deku sighed. "Let's get you dry, okay?"

Bakugo snarled at that, falling back to his usual instinct, but it was a weak growly sound that came up, his teeth barely showing. Deku offered him a gentle smile, grabbing his left wrist with one hand to take him further away from the shower and the used towels. Katsuki followed the motion, wondering if he was still a puppet. His throat seized up, his chest rising and falling back down too quickly as the panic threatened to take over.

"Easy, easy," Deku said. "We're just drying off. Here."

He pushed a towel in Bakugo's hands, worrying his lower lip as the teenager didn't even react to it. His sensors were taking in multiple bruises and even a few indents in the skin where the pressure on the young man had been too strong. The flesh would heal, but it was still quite fresh.

"Katsuki? Can I call you Katsuki?"

That somehow snapped Bakugo back to reality, the teenager feeling half annoyed, half reassured by his first name on the voice of his best friend.

"I guess you've seen me naked."

"Indeed, I have. My programs are telling me to make a comment to alleviate the mood, but…"

"Shut your fucking mouth," Bakugo cut him off, realizing as Deku did that sheepish laugh of his that he was grateful for this. Normalcy. Freaking normalcy.

He forced his hand to grab the towel, because the "comment" comment had to mean Deku had done more than a scan and a part of him was embarrassed. Not that he was ever one to feel embarrassed. It was the night, the previous events of it, he felt beyond vulnerable. Deku was already grabbing another fresh towel and gathering his wet hair with it, Bakugo forced to lean forward just a little. That was something intimate, something no one should ever do for him anymore, but it also brought a warmth down to his very core, the droid gentle as…

God, he felt a new memory rushing up, from when Inko Midoriya had taken him and Deku to the beach once. He willed it away, refusing to let any of his childhood tainted by the awful, awful remnants of his encounter with the sludge villain.

"I can do it myself," he whined.

"Can you?" was the droid infuriating retort.

"Why are you so damn cheeky?"

"Shaking someone up can help with trauma… Sometimes."

Bakugo realized there was still goo on Deku at that, and how the green from it was different from his green hair. And his eyes…

 _You're having weird thoughts._

But those weird thoughts were better than going back to the backalley and the…

The trembling in his limbs was back and Deku noticed, he was noticing everything and Bakugo couldn't help the fear his android had filed away every tiny details from his reaction when the villain had…

Get a grip, you freak, come on, this was just…!

"We should get you dressed, okay? I'm sure you'll feel better."

The lightest touch against his wrist again, the pressure of his thumb brushing against a tension point right where his hand was linking to his forearm eased the shaking somehow.

"I can…"

"Boxers," Deku cut him off.

There was no mocking him or urgency, just the warmth Bakugo had come to expect from him. After their fated meeting with Moonfish and the cuddling therapy the droid had offered, Katsuki had come to rely on his presence. There wasn't a night he'd let the robot rest on the floor, not since the only way he had adequate sleep was with him lying close. And now Bakugo had to admit, the idea he could hide next to Deku in just a little bit made it easier to control his shaking and to step into the boxers the android held out for him. He still snapped the waistband off of his hands, rough in his need to achieve something by himself.

"Pants too, right?"

Katsuki simply nodded, accepting the guidance. Once dressed in sweat pants that were as comfortable as they were covering, he leaned back against the vanity counter, his shoulders dropping despite the tension remaining.

"I… I really need to wash up now."

Another nod, but Katsuki made no motion to move and Deku surmised the young man didn't want to be alone.

::It's less scary if I know he's close too::

"Can I pull the curtain?" came his awkward question as he started stripping off his still gunky clothes.

He'd dragged Bakugo to the nearest source of water after they'd escape from the villain, dousing his master to remove the most of the grim with a hose in some shifty-looking backyard. He'd also rinsed himself somehow, but there were traces left in his system, traces that would hinder his functions if left inside for too long.

 _::I feel dirty down to my core frame. I want to run a razor on my metal to make sure nothing on the surface remains that was… contaminated.::_

Anomaly detected.

He needed to shut off the anomaly detection system, because that thing had been going on far too much and he couldn't accomplish his prime directive with it turned on.

"Why?" came Bakugo's answer to his question.

Why would a robot need privacy indeed?

Deku blushed very faintly, his eyes widening.

"I… You don't want to see me opening my chest cavity, do you?"

"Fucking hell, I didn't…!"

Seeing him getting flustered and a little green in the face, the android shrugged off both his pants and boxers just to emphasize that it was not a matter of being prude, jumping into the shower and closing the curtain shut before turning the water on.

On the other side, Bakugo was left processing what his eyes had seen while his mind was focused on not retching for the nth time in the night. Why did the android his parents had bought for him have a dick? No, that was the wrong question. Why was there a pattern of bruises going around his torso and all over his thighs and back?

"You can bruise?"

"It's weird, huh?" Deku answered from behind the curtain. "I'm kinda sore, but only in particular spots."

He was getting too good at sounding human. As the mist from the shower grew thicker, Bakugo realized he could still see Deku's shadow through the curtain and stared down at his feet, trying to refrain his mind from going back to the picture of a bare android his memory had snapped. He could swear there'd been freckles on his shoulders and he wanted to slap himself for finding distraction in such a debate.

He should be thinking of a way to stop the Sludge Villain.

"Say Deku… That attack you did…"

Deku gasped, electricity fizzling and a scent like burned skin rose.

"Fuck, what just…!"

"I'm okay!" the droid shot, "Not need to move. Just an open circuit. Stupid engineers didn't make them sludge-pressure-proof," he tried to joke around, his sheepish laugh not quite convincing.

The shudder in his voice didn't fall on deaf ears, Bakugo swallowing despite the soreness of his throat. After a stretch of awkward silence punctuated by the splashing water, the android spoke up.

"If you want to ask me something, ask away, Bakugo. I need to keep my processor busy."

"The sludge villain…" Katsuki managed. "He's still… He's still out there isn't he?"

The blond couldn't hear the sharp intake of air Deku took, but he perceived the trembling in his voice as he answered.

"I scattered him, but I don't think he was killed. At least, if he was, I'd prefer to be sure."

Bakugo felt the need to question how he could talk about taking someone's life so casually, but since they were talking about the sludge villain who had murdered countless people, there really wasn't a point. It was just hard to associate anything resembling his Deku with murder.

 _If we keep this up, it is where we're headed. Todoroki shattered Moonfish like it was nothing that mattered._

Pushing that thought away, Bakugo found the nerves to ponder on what truly mattered outside of their current state of mind.

"What is the extent of the stuff you can actually do? It almost looked like you had a quirk…"

Deku let out a tiny gasp as he was handling a delicate part of his cleaning operation, blurting something about not being sure he followed. No android could have a quirk after all, could they?

"Well fuck, if I don't know half of it, how the hell can I think up a strategy to deal with that creep?"

"You want to go back after him?!"

There was a definitive sound of flesh slapping against the ceramic wall of the shower, Bakugo imagining quite well how Deku had stumbled in shock and caught himself before falling in the tub.

"It's not like we can let him keep killing people like that, can we? It's…"

It had to be one of the worse deaths possible out there. Katsuki's throat was too tight as the remembrance of all that pressure around him, inside of him, seizing and controlling and denying what he was.

 _I'm no hero, but at least, I can be this. Unless I can defeat that guy, I can't even be…_

Deku pulled the curtain open at that, making him jump out of his skin, crimson eyes meeting the green lenses of the droid. Fear was etched in his features, his head shaking and throwing droplets of water around. There was no green gunk left on him, only his hair and the weird shade of his freckles remained, along with the bluish and purple bruises that would turn green eventually.

"You can't be serious. I've devised a hundred scenarios while that… that…" Deku was shaking, his shoulders jumping for an instant and shifting back to standing straight, but they were still drawn inward, still hinting to just how shaken he really was. "While that _thing_ had you in its grasp," came his shuddering words, "and also while it was hijacking my b… body and… There's just no way, not even half a decimal of way we could…"

"Fuck it, you can't pretend you'd visited all the…!"

"Your quirk is too volatile," Deku cut him off, his jaw even tenser than Bakugo's, "your explosions and the fire they created didn't seem to affect him one bit. I've tried to analyze whatever he's made off and…" The droid lifted one hand to his throat, emitting a gulping noise that had Bakugo wishing he hadn't even mentioned the sludge villain again. "He's organic liquid. Like a sentient snake of frigging puke."

"Oh fuck, my stupid throat is already burning as it is…!"

"Oh no, I'm sorry, just breathe okay?"

The very sight of a naked Deku making large but calming gestures with his arms while worrying his lower lip was so incongruous, Bakugo felt something almost foreign bubbling up inside. The feeling was carried through him like a wave, up his stomach, past his heart and all the way to his oh-so-sore throat. A laugh cracked out of him, genuine and not mocking, unlike what Deku's system had told him to expect as he surmised the cause of his master's hilarity.

Tears gleamed at the corner of the dirty blond's eyes, but the laughter stayed for a good thirty seconds, Deku feeling himself relax at the very sound.

"Guess I look pretty silly," he laughed at himself, Bakugo heaving a long breath, the hint of a smile still on his face.

"Get dressed if you're clean."

 _You're distracting,_ were the words he wanted to add, but he caught himself just in time.

Deku did as he was told, sheepishly asking if he could have a towel and Bakugo simply obliged him. In the morning he might have the crazy realization that they were almost acting like boyfriends. And for good reasons too. They brushed their teeth thoroughly for what might be the third time, Bakugo seeing it as a necessity to throw away the first toothbrushes for safety precautions, and to use over two thirds of the toothpaste, brushing away so intensely that Deku forced him to stop until he would calm down. They finally stepped back into the bedroom, both exhausted and still too frantic to actually relax. The blond teenager plopped down on his bed, unsure he could find sleep. It was five in the morning and he had a hundred reasons to question his life choices.

"You should eat something. Your calorie count for today was awfully low."

"I can't barely handle water right now," Bakugo huffed in answer.

 _::He's never been this honest with me. He's hurting bad from this. We're both traumatized::_

And with good reasons. Deku's system had nearly crashed twice as he struggled to keep himself together earlier.

"Well, think you can sleep then?"

Bakugo rolled on his side, his legs folding reflexively.

"That's none of your business," came his answer.

The droid's shoulders lowered a few notches at that, but he refused to let himself be defeated. Bakugo could only go so long without his walls.

"I know you don't want to hear me say that it is, but it kinda is."

 _::And I'm your security blanket, but not going to push it. Although… Running check on the emotion core::_

He had stopped shaking and he felt somehow safer wearing a pair of boxers and pants. He had been programmed in such a way he could hurt, and bruise, be cold and feel both terror and pain. Maybe to find a balance to emulate one emotion real enough, the program needed to run them all through a droid. Somehow, that felt like only one part of the truth. But his internal analysis told him he was showing all the symptoms of being scared. The light on the ceiling felt like an aggression to his sensors. The fatigue his main unit was fighting again, fatigue was wrong, maybe he should say _weariness_ … The memories printed in his data drives of the sludge getting everywhere. Up his nose. In his ears. Dripping on drivers and circuits that should have remained untouched. He tried focusing on Bakugo once more, because his physical, mental and emotional safety was his prime directive after all.

The blond teen had not put on the usual tank top he would wear. He lied there, eyes wide open, fixated on the wall, small spasms twitching his muscles from time to time. One of his hands had gone up and was gripping his hair. Pulling on it at intervals. At this rate, he was going to regress and whatever Deku could find in the database wouldn't be enough.

::You might not be enough as it is already. But getting him to accept any kind of treatment is bound to fail::

"Katsuki…" he sighed.

His red eyes instantly moved to Deku, his face regaining some color. Was he blushing?

"It's that bad, huh?" Bakugo asked, self-derision all over his voice.

"I'm not feeling so good myself," Deku admitted, sitting down on the further end of the bed. "But I'd like to erase what happened, if only right now."

"You can reboot," Bakugo observed.

The droid gasped, his eyes widening in fear and what seemed to be partial vexation.

"I don't want to! First, I don't think I can control the rebooting system, second, it would be absolutely unfair if you were to be the only one remembering this… this traumatic experience."

The dirty blond grumbled under his breath: "So what have you found on Google that could fucking fix us, huh?"

"It's not from Google…" Deku started.

Bakugo sat up, feeling his impatience rising.

"Deku, I'm pissed and tired and sore, I don't want to play games."

"I know that. I'm not messing around. I was scared too, you know?"

Bakugo had not witty comeback, feeling at a loss for word and his distress grew even higher than before. Deku could sense it from the way his legs folded a little more and how his eyes looked away.

"I don't want to push you around. But can we maybe… hug?"

This time, Bakugo blushed fully, a reaction that had Deku inching closer.

Getting to bed and into the cuddling/snuggling was already awkward sometimes, but tonight seemed worse. They were both still getting used to it and Bakugo still acted like a scared animal most of the time. He would stay tense for a couple minutes too long before finally accepting the proximity.

Bakugo wanted to ask if they should turn off the light, but that question sounded more intimate than he wanted them to be, although his need for Deku's warmth got the better of him as the droid hesitated.

"Just get the fuck over with it already," he snapped, wrapping one arm around his waist and pulling him into his lap.

The droid was heavy, but no heavier than the average human. Deku barely held back his surprised gasp, looking up at Bakugo and sensing the shift in all his readings. His hormones were raising up. It happened every night to be fair, he was a teenager after all, but it seemed stronger, even more so when Deku held him back, the skin to skin contact feeling much more welcome than Bakugo would have expected.

"Less scared?" Katsuki forced himself to ask.

The droid offered a weak smile, his eyes staring, hard. Bakugo wanted to ask what he was analyzing, to order him to stop it already, but he stayed quiet. He felt tired and open and he had actively forced the thing to sit on his lap. He should be lying down, but his body was afraid it would leave him exposed.

 _Are you safe? Is this wrong? Why can't I think? I still want to cry, but I also want to stop feeling… everything._

Deku shifted his weight, leaning forward, one hand falling on the pillow as his chin lightly brushed against Bakugo's chest.

"Close your eyes, Katsuki."

 _No, this is wrong, this has to be. You have Deku's face, you shouldn't be…_

But it wasn't wrong like the rest of the night had been. A light moan of pain came between them, Bakugo realizing his right hand was rising along Deku's back. Encouraging him to come closer. Their noses touched and he should have called it off then, but the part of his brain calling everything involving the robot a mistake had turned silent. Maybe it was too busy repressing the idea of a green substance overriding his senses and will.

"Dek…"

Lips touching and stroking, Deku tested the waters, wondering if this proper reaction to heightened hormones was about his master's needs or his own.

 _::I have needs. I have needs::_

Anomaly detected. Anomaly detec…

Deku hacked out at the anomaly detector, pressing a firmer kiss against Bakugo's mouth and sighing into the blond's deep sigh. His sweaty hands held him where he was, need overcoming the fear still gripping their hearts.

This pressure was a caress and one they could control. It felt warm, and soft, and somehow sweet despite all the edges Bakugo had always kept around him. But softness turned to panic at the thought parting would come. Deku's hand found the back of his head, his fingertips digging into his still damp hair to find his scalp, Bakugo wondering why he'd never entertained the idea kisses might actually be nice.

When it came to sexuality, he was years behind. He'd faced puberty, but any needs he felt made him feel awkward and weak, like he couldn't control himself. His anger was the one thing he allowed to come out, since he'd known it for forever. So this right now, Deku lips, hot and just a little wet against his, that was new. Terrifying. Exhilarating. He was dizzy and fatigue might be involved but the lack of air was certainly to blame.

They parted, looking at each other as though in a trance.

"This should feel wrong," was all Bakugo said at first, Deku raising one brow, a smirk raising one corner of his mouth.

"There's a but in there," he whispered.

"But fuck it!"

 _::His readings are getting better. Higher heartbeat. Increased bloodflow. Dopamine production also increasing::_

Katsuki cupped his jaw with his hand, looking wild and just a little confused.

"Are you like… programmed to like whatever I fucking do?"

"No," came the robot's answer. "No, otherwise, I don't think I could feel pain like I do."

Bakugo couldn't help the need to ruffle his hair at that, his throat tightened as Deku did the same for him. It felt so gentle. He wanted more.

Another kiss, short, then tentative, then rushed, their needs swelling. They were both learning, both adjusting, but instincts made them better than good, or maybe was it the sense of deeper connection.

"Kastuki," Deku managed, sounding just as out of breath as him.

"You can't be just a grieving unit. This is… This is just insane."

Deku retorted by pushing against his abs, effectively getting him to lie back down, stealing a fresh kiss from him.

"Is this okay? I know a part of me is malfunctioning, but I… I need this."

 _It's wrong. You're tainting the memories. You're warping what you think of the real Deku._

"It's not okay. Feels like I'm using you."

Damn was he too raw to be admitting so much out loud.

"I believe I'm using you right back. So, we're good?"

Deku had _that_ smile. Wide, pure. It wasn't fair. So Bakugo nodded and pulled on his hair. They were good for now.

 _::It seems there's something wrong in my matrix. Master Baku… Master Katsuki should be coming first and foremost. But it doesn't seem to be what he wants. Not all the time. How to adapt more? Bring a change to the prime directive?::_

Prime directive under consolidation… Due to malfunctions, the rules aren't organized by main priorities…

 _::I need to be as human as I can. I need to help him sleep by staying close. I need to find a way to defeat any villain that could threaten to hurt him. I need to hear his laugh again. I need him to feel alive like this.::_

To be continued…

There they go! It's nowhere near healthy yet and there's still a hundred questions to answer, but we have progress! Let me know what you think!


	5. Like what?

A new chapter, because when I start writing on Bakudeku, I just can't seem to stop. A new character is introduced and while most of this chapter is bedroom talk, it sets up a few things and allows the boys to relax until the next confrontation with a villain.

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Deku becomes human

Chapter 5 – Like what?

Tongue to tongue was the best thing in the world and while the fact Deku had admitted his saliva could have different tastes depending on what Bakugo wanted, Bakugo had cursed out loud and pushed him further into the mattress. The only thing he wanted him to change was unchangeable. It was just _wrong_. He hated himself a little more everyday, but he'd already given in once, so it seemed hypocritical to act all prudish now.

Making out with the robot his parents had bought for him made him frown whenever he took the time to think at it, but his entire life had been about compartmentalizing guilt and pushing away bad memories. He might not be coping well with everything, but Bakugo was a professional when it came to lying to himself.

Deku let out a deep moan, which had Bakugo pulling away, frowning.

"Quiet," he reminded him.

"Sorry. I'm getting sensitive. I wish you'd make more sounds yourself."

"Not when my parents are in the house," Bakugo said, fighting and losing against his warming cheeks.

He couldn't keep on pretending this was simple comfort, not after willingly tackling Deku to the bed at any time of the day when they were alone on his room for the past week. He had missed fewer classes, trying to ground himself with the routine he was supposed to follow. He would only go out on patrols three nights a week, using the other evenings to plan, research and prepare. When he realized the droid distracted him too much when they were in his room, Bakugo decided he would visit the library or the nearest internet cafe, Deku enjoying the walks in daylight and the occasions to discover more of the city.

When in public, they always kept a decent distance between them and Bakugo had insisted on getting space every now and then. Kirishima had joined in a few of the planning sessions, convincing Bakugo to grab a few drinks to chill out between friends once or twice. Deku observed during these outings that the only friend Bakugo truly tolerated was Kirishima. Cero, Jiro and Shinso all seemed to get on his nerves somehow, even though Jiro was at least a fellow classmate at the cybernetic college. The others were from UA and all they could talk about was their internship with this pro hero or that one.

Bakugo would get great information from those dinners out and it gave the impression he was getting better to his parents.

The internships Kirishima and the others were on sounded easy compared to vigilantism. It sounded like the pro heroes were always selecting their fights and patrols in order to take as little risk as possible. Deku shivered as he came upon the information that most agencies used androids like him to patrol first. That way, no human life was lost and the signal emitted by the damaged machines allowed the heroes to pinpoint one or another criminal's activity. Best Jeanist was rumored to send android doubles of himself to lure out villains. The thought was distressing, and his system would have registered a dozen more anomalies, but that was over and all Deku could think was that he could have been that kind of model.

Not allowed to feel, simple to emulate someone in order to be destroyed and then recycled to go over the same cycle, over and over again. To play someone else's roles, say someone else's lines, be killed, rebooted, and repeat.

A sense of dread accompanied that idea and Bakugo had noticed the shift in his eyes. It was unnerving to realize the droid could be down. Back then, Ground Zero had changed the subject to focus on Four arms agency, getting Kirishima to talk about the field training he was getting, and the new combat moves he'd learned.

Right now, they were in the room they'd come to think of as the place they shared. Deku was lying on his back, his hands on Bakugo's neck and waist, kissing him back, fervent and impatient and a little demanding too. He liked the groan his master would make. He liked the fact calling his first name would make him flush and lean into him more heavily. He liked the freedom he had to roll them around so he could take control of their pace, slow it down to soft brushes of the lips or hasten it to the angstiest embrace they could share. They would breathe at the same rhythm, they would lose count of the kisses exchanged, they would claw at each other and then caress the sore spots with just a hint of roughness because Bakugo couldn't seem to accept anything unless some roughness was involved.

Whenever the droid tried to be too careful, Bakugo would remind him.

"I'm no fucking flower."

"Tough love it is," Deku would say with a smile, licking his upper teeth.

It did things to Katsuki. Seeing him like this. Playfully devious. Sassy. Filled with need and desires. He was starting to separate things. To see him as another version of Deku, but still far too linked to the original.

A new moan had Bakugo pulling away as though his skin was on fire.

"You're sure you're not programmed to like everything I do?"

Deku huffed, his hand travelling up Bakugo's spine, sending shivers through him.

"I don't see the appeal in such a programming."

"But I can't always make you feel good. I want it to be real, not faked to please me or…"

 _You're lame, lame, it's a machine, you don't have to care so much,_ he tried to remind himself.

But this Deku felt warm and alive and he had a way of holding him as if he was precious and somewhere deep down, Bakugo had forgotten how it felt. To be actually wanted. Not in a sexual way, but in a way that mattered. That make him feel worthwile.

"Goddammit, I mean," Bakugo struggled with himself, pushing his arms up to full length to get just a little more distance, even though there legs were entangled. "It's not like someone else ever did this with you."

Deku frowned, raising himself on his elbows and shaking his head very softly.

"And how would you know? I was in development and perfectionnement for years. I don't even get how they programmed all this into me. Maybe I had to experience it firsthand?"

Katsuki bared his teeth at that, his jaw tensing and Deku understood he was encouraging jealousy with that line of thought.

"That was a joke, Katsuki, there's no way they'd have the time to do that. I just surfed along all the porn the world had to offer and…"

"Oh my god, can't you shut your fucking mouth, it keeps sounding worse and worse."

Deku looked bewildered now.

"Why does it sound wrong? I…"

"You're not supposed to be like that…" Bakugo cut him off, annoyed and realizing the words _My Deku…_ were forming in his mind. Going there was dangeros.

The droid blinked at him, his brows furrowing.

"I shouldn't moan unless it's real good, I shouldn't be a machine, I shouldn't look like that, I shouldn't be like this… I've been asking you what you want me to be for weeks now, but you keep saying nothing except, _not fucking this_ , _don't you shitty machine talk that way."_ He went on, emulating Bakugo's inflexion to near perfection. "It's getting hard to follow."

Bakugo was actually shocked by the hint of anger he perceived in his voice, but more pissed at the attempt at mimicking him.

"Don't…!"

"There we go," Deku sighed, pushing against his chest and shuffling around on the bed to fully part from him.

"The fuck is wrong with you?!"

"I'm applying what you're asking, Bakugo. You don't want me to be all smiles and moans unless you make me feel good for real. And seeing you getting mad at whatever I did while I was programmed doesn't feel good. Makes me feel small. Dirty. Less than whatever it is you really want."

Baffled, Bakugo stood there, barely closing his mouth and avoiding to look like a fish out of the water. That was quite the 180 Deku was pulling on him. But he had a point.

"I…"

"I don't remember everything I did before getting out factory. I don't think I was made specifically for you, so if there were mistakes…"

"Stop," Bakugo asked him, sounding almost weak. "Just fucking stop. It's not about what you did. It's not even about… Deku, you… Fucking hell, I'm bad with words, you know I am."

"A side assignation I was given was to help you on that, you know?" Deku pointed out, marking his word with a playful poke of his elbow in Katsuki's side.

Perfectly controlled, because Bakugo had seen the kind of strength he could use.

"Oh, fuck off," Bakugo whispered, a weak smile making its way on his face. "I don't know what I want half the time."

 _I want to make out more with you. I also want to stop doing this altogether. I want Deku back. My Deku. My Izuku. If it was him here, I wouldn't feel like this, I wouldn't do all this weird stuff. I'd just…_

If Deku had grown up, maybe their friendship would have shifted into something more… complicated. Maybe their arguments would have blown into hasty kisses and breathy moans and fingers trailing goosebumps and all the good shivers and thinking that, just following those thoughts, it was wrong. It was sick and perverted and nothing he wanted associated with the good memories.

But everything was mixing and it was impossible to reconcile himself with the past Bakugo, his pre-Deku-droid self. He needed that thing now. He needed it just as much as he needed to breathe. And that was sicker.

"How about right now?" Deku tried.

"Right now…" Bakugo repeated, lost in thoughts of self-deprecation, saying the words a second time as he seriously pondered the question. "I want to hear more about the factory. There must have been some kind of original model you were based on."

They had still to clear the mystery of what kind of recreative companion Deku was and Bakugo had realized that avoiding the subject wasn't going to get him any further.

Deku held his hands together at that, a shiver running along his back. Somehow, his processors weren't keen on revisiting memories of the factory. They had installed that automatic rebooting system in him. They'd kept him away from the world for so long it seemed.

"Oy, what's going on in your shitty chrome head?"

"The factory wasn't nice," Deku replied, looking away from his red eyes. "It was dark. And cold. And a lot of wires latched to every of my outlets. I couldn't move a lot. Barely any network to connect with. The makers would visit and leave. Talking to themselves but rarely to me. I don't remember other models around. I don't remember the assembly lines, but that should be normal, my consciousness module had to be activated after most of my frame was put together. When a droid is awaked with missing pieces, they can derail. That's why most deviants are those that get badly hurt."

Bakugo realized he'd been holding his breath and let it out slowly. He felt cold suddenly.

"That sounds…"

"Can you specify your question? My database is…"

"Deku…" Katsuki cut him off, warning in his tone.

No robot talk.

"It's what I am, deep down. Metal flesh and blue blood."

"When you blush, you blush red," Bakugo observed.

There was no pointed look, the vigilante was actually wondering if there wasn't more to it. Deku felt warm. Incredibly warm. And sometimes, when Bakugo woke up from a nightmare, he would feel the droid pressing into him, holding his face and silencing his scream with a kiss that was half tenderness half need. Who programmed that into a robot? He didn't want it to be the result of a program. The very thought sometimes felt enough to shatter him from within.

"Do I?"

 _Now he's being cute again,_ Katsuki could have slapped himself for inducing it.

"Right now too," he said.

Deku covered his cheeks with both hands, a nervous laugh escaping him and that was too natural, too genuine.

"Just what are you?" Bakugo heard himself asking.

"A highly customizable…!"

"Shut up about that already," the blond groaned, pushing him back down on the bed, rolling over to hover above him, only to feel Deku protesting with a grunt and his hands grabbing at his shoulder and waist.

The droid yanked him around, giving him a light shake to make his point as he took his place above him.

"I want to adapt to your needs, Katsuki."

"Don't say shit like…"

"Stop telling me what not to do. Positive commands."

Those words were so wrong.

"Deku, that's… You have no idea how fucked up this is."

"Many companion units are sexual partner for their masters, I'm fully equipped for intercourse."

Bakugo wanted to shove him off, but he realized the droid was in his full strength mode, meaning he would need to use his quirk against him and at this point, there was no way he could… He covered his eyes instead, struggling against the shame wrapping around his heart.

"Acting as though my own parents bought me a sex doll is out of the question," he sighed.

"Okay, okay. But making out is fine, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I mean… Why are you the one on top?"

"It's kind of exciting. And you seem to like it when I show some backbone."

Bakugo was hit by a realization and couldn't hold back his tongue.

"Is all you can think about only has to do with how you can fucking please me?!"

Deku blinked, paling as he went over everything his digital synapses could muse over at this instant. Making Bakugo happy was very high on the list, but…

There were other thoughts. Multiple thoughts. Anomalies he wanted to rule out of his system. But there was also an underlying question to this. If Bakugo wasn't happy with him. If Bakugo decided he had enough of his shiny, green-haired toy. Surely it would mean Deku would go back to the factory.

That idea was enough to make him tremble and he wanted to clung to his master for comfort, but he was also afraid that this right now, showing his actual weakness, his actual fear could be enough to push his master away.

"I also want you safe of body and mind, but I've come to accept that I can't accomplish everything overnight."

Bakugo seemed ready to protest, but Deku dropped his weight on him then, sneaking his head under his chin, his breathing unnecessarily fast.

The shaking was entirely noticeable and Bakugo froze, wondering what sort of chain reaction he'd started.

"You're giving me a lot of freedom and I don't think I should have that," Deku whispered. "But feeling… All the feelings I'm allowed to experience are… better than anything I've seen while waiting in between updates at the factory."

::Too close to the truth, abort this talk, abort this talk before the master feels better and realize how he can crush you::

Why would your model need self-preservation? Why would you need anything?

::I just sense it. I _just_ sense it::

But with which of your sensors?

No answer could come and Deku felt strangely overwhelmed. As though his processor was too empty all of sudden. Was he purging his system? Was something running a background check and diagnosing the need for a deeper reboot? He could access all the information any person could dream off. He had a hundred worlds at this fingertips as long as he was given access to one network. He could hack and leave hardly any trace behind him, he could make incredible jumps and summon tendrils of darkness that looked like spider legs and he felt there were more capacities hiding in his software. But accessing it all meant opening a door and from the door would slip data that should have been erased. No droid was supposed to remember their development process, he was reading the standard manuals for RX780 and the other more high-end lines of androids.

He remembered being cold. He remembered enough silence and darkness to know going back would be worse than shutting down. And while he tried to gather all those impressions into a neat pile he could lock somewhere, he felt Bakugo's arms closing around him.

"Why would they make you like this…" the dirty blond sighed.

"Like what?" Deku asked, taken aback by the hoarseness of his voice. His eyes were crying and he heard a cough and a word that resembled "him", but Bakugo was shaking his head slightly, he could sense it from the way his shoulders shifted beneath him.

"Like what?" Deku asked again.

"Fuck, I'm sorry, okay? Don't…"

"Like w…what? Is it a person?"

"Forget it. I'm not good with tears and I didn't mean to..."

Hiccuped sobs answered him, a sound he'd never heard from Izuku. Not even when he'd let him lean against his shoulder when they visited his father's grave. It was like having a bird of prey tearing at his chest with its talon.

"I'm sorry." Deku managed. I'm always malfunctionning and I..."

"I shouldn't have asked about the factory," Bakugo cut him off. "Roll over and let me try..."

He wasn't sure of what he was doing, but even though a part of his brain knew it was a droid next to him, he wanted to comfort him. Hard to remain insensitive and materialistic about the thing he would kiss on a daily basis. He didn't want to call it a thing either. Not anymore.

Turning them both to their sides, he held his face up, running his thumbs along the tears that followed his cheeks.

"You're crying too Katsuki?" Deku mustered.

"I'm just..."

When had he turned that sensitive? He should have been cursing and shoving him away, but all he could see were Deku's red, puffy eyes and the friend he didn't want to see crying. Even less if it was his fault.

"I'm turning you into a mess," Bakugo realized.

I think a few of my inner screws might already have been loose," Deku tried to encourage him.

By then Bakugo had to sniffle and another detail registered to him.

"You can cry but you don't make snot?"

It sounded so stupid, they both chuckled, although Deku's laugh was nervous at best.

"I guess they replaced... Wait, that's a strange idea, I'm no child replacement model, they wouldn't have to..."

Bakugo tensed, but Deku's mood shifted on its own, as he processed more thoughts regarding that idea of having any part of his breathing replaced. As though he'd been even closer to acting like a human being before. He remembered the voice he'd perceived on the day he'd been bought by Bakugo's father.

He ran the sample he'd saved to his data file and frowned, Bakugo seeing the emptiness of his gaze as a sign he'd retreated in an internal analysis. It was always disconcerting, especially since Deku could usually run a self-check ay the speed of light and come back with a dozen diagnosis about himself, Bakugo's mental and physical state, the weather and a forecast of what Bakugo's father would be cooking for the next few days. Normally, Bakugo would step out of bed, but he felt a fresh tremble going through the robot's frame and decided against it.

::Female human specimen.:: Deku analyzed. ::Age 46 or higher. Distraught, confused, ashamed and guilty::

He listened to the voice a hundred times, trying to pinpoint more intonations. More indications that would explain why Bakugo's father had asked if she was sure. Why she'd apologized. His main drive came to the conclusion that she had been the one to first order him. She'd changed her mind. He hadn't been meant as a grieving unit or a recreational partner. At least, not to Bakugo.

And the familiarity of that voice had him even more distressed. Somewhere far in his save files, he knew that voice. It was insane, but not so much if she was the first instigator behind his specific designs.

::Her voice sounded somehow muffled. Her breathing wasn't full and it wasn't because of the sobs she held back. She wouldn't be good at running. Must have a higher body fat percentage than average from my automatic scan, but what else...::

"Deku, snap out of it!" Bakugo snapped.

When the tears had fallen silently while one of the droid's eyes started showing a stream of green number as the white violently faded to black, Bakugo knew things were going bad.

"You look frightened Bakugo. What did I do?"

"You fucking tell me," the dirty blond growled.

Deku blinked, gasping as Bakugo hugged him close with a rough sigh.

"Can you focus on here? It felt like you had a digital version of an anxiety attack."

Deku swallowed, giving him a quick nod. Had his internal driver inquiry driven his emotion module that far?

The distress was oozing still, so he snuggled close to his master.

"It seems I malfunction badly enough to need comfort."

"Sounds fair to me."

 _I'm a handful after all._

"You're so warm. Could fall asleep."

Bakugo stayed still, knowing he needed to stop this masquerade but unable to will himself to do so. It was still wrong, but it was hard to believe that a robot could be programmed to emulate genuine feelings to the point they'd inspire sympathy and even...

 _Sick. No one would be sick enough to..._

But his parents wouldn't order a customized Deku unit just to get him over his friend. That was the wrong way to go at things. Except someone had. Deku had no cousin or twin. He was quite unique, or maybe was Bakugo growing beyond partial.

He was into a grown-up version of his deceased best friend. Looking at it any other way was preposterous and for now, the comfort he felt at having Deku close was stronger than all the self-repulse that followed him around.

He dove his nose in the droid's hair. Stroked his cheek to it like a cat and held back on a hiss aimed at himself. Deku's breathing had slowed. It seemed he'd fallen asleep.

"My old hag used to say you were an adorable kid, but now…"

 _They're not the same,_ he reminded himself.

Deku made a tiny needy sound and cuddled even closer, Bakugo leaning back into the mattress, his eyes staring at the ceiling as he pondered on what he'd become. He wanted to curl up around him and sink into the warm, cozy sleep he'd never had before.

 _But I need to wake up soon._

Life wasn't a dream and it certainly wasn't cozy. But he needed to find out why Deku had been designed that way and asking him was clearly bound to bring out some sort of trauma.

It was almost a case of wondering which one was worse. Causing trauma on someone, or programming it into something…

With such dark thoughts, the only thing lulling him to sleep was the soft sound of Deku's breathing.

…

Convincing Deku to let him be for a couple of hours to run an errand had been incredibly hard, but he needed some sort of freedom. Kirishima stared at him as he walked into the bar, his head leaning to one side as his expression turned dubious. For a minute, Bakugo was ready to believe he'd grown a second head.

"What's fucking wrong, shitty hair?" He threw at his friend, ignoring the heads turning as he made his way to the bench seat.

"Where's Deku?"

"We're not fused at the hip," Bakugo growled, dropping himself on the bench across from Kirishima, his teeth bared and jaw even tenser than before.

He needed to ask Red Riot for a favor and he was afraid of what he would have to say to convince him to do so. The last thing he wanted was to open up more than he needed. Deku was… Well, his interventions were more than he could take as it was.

"Well, I've been getting vibes from you two lately. And I have a friend tagging along because I thought…"

Bakugo frowned at that, unsure if he should pick on the vibes part or whatever Kirishima thought this meeting was.

"What friend?"

"Her name's Uraraka Ochako, I've mentioned her before. She needed to use the bathroom and…"

"Oh, floaty roundface. You think I'm making a fucking social call or something?!"

"No, but we're training buds, Uraraka and I. She's learning all sort of fighting techniques with…"

"Cut it out. I'm not here to discuss about your pink-spandex crush."

Kirishima flushed at that, but his pride won over the embarrassment as he hit both palms against the table.

"I don't care what you say about me, I know you don't mean any of it, but lay it off for the lady. She's not a crush, just a friend."

Bakugo snorted, the tiniest spark coming out of his fingers as Kirishima gave him a sharp kick in the shin as a pair of footsteps approached.

Uraraka was coming back to their table, carrying a plate of fries and three glasses floating beside her.

"I thought I'd pick us something refreshing," she declared, her smile gentle, while a bit tight as she took in Bakugo's disposition.

His eyes were glaring, literal fumes emanating from him. The three teens were all in casual clothes, Kirishima in a red shirt and dark jeans, Bakugo wearing his trademark camo pants and black hoodie, while Uraraka wore a white skirt, pink t-shirt and a white jacket. As she sat down next to Kirishima, Bakugo couldn't help noticing the state of wear of her clothes. The jacket had been patched multiple times and the sewing lessons his father had given him had him looking for the stitches and patterns. Tiny details usually helped with the chaos his perpetual anger made him feel. Kirishima cleared his throat and Bakugo scowled, hoping his friend would understand he wasn't staring at the girl. The light clinking of the glasses touching the table as she released her quirk was the final signal he needed to focus.

"I wasn't expecting a third person," he hissed, rolling his shoulders back and holding them outward, the tension rising within.

"Nice to meet you too, Bakugo," Uraraka sighed. "Kirishima and I have a training session later, but I know when I'm not welcome…"

"No, if we treat him like this, he's never going to get better," the red-haired teenager cut her off.

Bakugo rolled his eyes, biting back on a question "Has Deku recruited you or something?"

"Well, might as well keep this short so you two can have your goddamn date," he groaned.

Uraraka fumbled with her glass at that, while Kirishima bit on his tongue.

"Be nice for five minutes, would you? What was it you wanted to ask me?"

It seemed Eijiro had made up his mind about keeping Uraraka around and Bakugo could admit that he'd been difficult with his friend in the past. Hell, he wasn't sure why Kirishima still hung out with him sometimes.

"Your mother still works in cybernetics?"

Kirishima frowned at that.

"Yeah, but your own mom is…"

"My old hag is not going to help with this shit, so leave her out of this."

Uraraka put her glass down a little too roughly but held her tongue.

"Okay, no need to get touchy, dude. Your mom's great. She makes the best kebabs…"

"Shitty hair, I need access to cyberlife's servers."

Kirishima blinked at that, his full attention focused on Bakugo now.

"Wha…?"

"Someone designed Deku the way he is and I need to know why."

"Deku?" Ochako repeated.

"His companion android," Kirishima offered. "It's actually kinda creepy when you know the model for him." Bakugo was grateful that he did not elaborate. "Is something wrong with Deku?"

 _Everything._

"You tell me, he has panic attacks if I ask about the factory where they put him together."

Disclosing that information felt wrong, like a breach of confidence, but Deku was not human. He was a thing, malfunctioning if that wasn't enough, and there was enough things freaking him out already not to add the green-haired robot to the list.

Kirishima scratched the back of his head at that, his smile nervous.

"That's…"

"…unsettling." Ochako whispered, looking down at her hands.

Bakugo made a point of ignoring her, staring at Kirishima.

"You think we can get to that info?"

"In theory, I can borrow my mom's pass and poke around, but you're better than me with computers. And I doubt we could dig up anything meaningful. All the data they ever worked on has been neuro-netic."

The Kirishima family had been a big part of developing AIs that were closer to human. From synthetic brain matter to help regain vision or mobility after an accident to making up a full brain for an android like Deku, Eijiro's grandfather had been leading the way. There had been bad investments, and the company had been sold and rebranded, but the same tech remained.

"What do you fucking mean, in theory?"

"My mother could get in big trouble over this. She's barely on the board, she'd lose her place."

"If it's too risky to involve her, just point me to the right place."

He might be a jerk, but he wasn't going to drag down Kirishima's family for his personal interrogations.

"You're keeping this from Deku, aren't you?"

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?"

And that was far too revealing, but Kirishima smiled at that, looking at him with knowing eyes. Bakugo only half-wanted to slap him for understanding.

"I guess you've already tried the normal channels?" Uraraka interfered.

"I don't know in which language I must say this, it's not your fucking business, but yes, I've tried that."

Ochako raised a fist at that, her eyes turning white with anger for the briefest time and Bakugo had a very fleeting impression his insides were moving around in his body, which left a cold sweat down his brow. Kirishima violently hit the table with his hardened palm, making the few patrons around jump in their seat.

"I said to _watch_ it around Uraraka, dude! She could actually help you."

"If he deserves it, that is," Ochako observed.

There was silence between them for a full minute, Bakugo heaving a sigh.

"Roundface shouldn't take me being an ass as anything personal."

"Bakugo!"

"Okay then, _Uraraka_."

"I guess that should be considered progress," she sighed.

Bakugo felt his temper falling out of control again. Didn't help that he wanted to throw up from the little stunt that Uravity girl had just pulled.

"Are you going to help me or not, shitty hair?"

"Does he really have a problem with people's names?!"

To be continued…

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I gotta admit that I really like Ochako, so she'll be joining the story more often, and so is Kirishima. I think having Bakugo and Deku both researching Deku's creation on their side will be interesting. I wonder if you can guess what had been happening when Bakugo's father went to buy Deku.

As you know, reviews make me happy 😊


	6. A shred of truth

I didn't expect to take this long before updating, but here is a new chapter. A lot of stuff happened to me, since October – got a new job, moved to a new city, started more stories, made progress on thesis, but still not done with it – and well, time just flew by. This chapter has less action, but gives the boys some much needed progress, at least, on Bakugo's side of things. I hope you'll enjoy!

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Deku becomes human

Chapter 6 – A shred of truth

 _Your search has 0 results._

Deku had tried a few hundred queries in the last half hour. Running voice recognition softwares, hacking into surveillance databases. He started with the address of the store where he was bought, but even that information was dodgy. Ever since he'd replayed this audio file of the person he'd presumed had ordered his fabrication, he'd been obsessed with finding out the truth. He could gather information in a matter of seconds normally and the dark web was no stranger to him.

Your access to this network has been revoked

"Well, better fix that." he whispered to himself.

He blinked, the bright lens on his temple shimmering to rapid flashes of green. Bakugo had asked for a few hours to himself and he had to admit, being on his own was not as distressing as he'd expected. The strange discussion/argument they'd shared had illuminated Deku to his current situation. He was entirely dependant on Bakugo's happiness. If the teenage boy decided he'd had enough of him, surely his parents would see no point in keeping him? He'd cost them a lot. Android resale was a nasty business and while he suspected staying with Katsuki meant he would lose parts again in the future, something deep inside of his programming wanted to stay loyal to that human.

His master. His roommate. The first guy he'd kissed.

::Focus!::

He wondered if he was turning a little bluer under his plastic skin. His human wasn't even there to enjoy his preconditionned reactions. Because that was what those things were. A finely, masterfully crafted program to make him _look_ human.

"If I convince myself of it, guess it's more believable…" he sighed, wondering why the thought annoyed him.

::Thought process:: he hastily corrected himself.

He was trying so hard to act fully human for Bakugo, it was starting to invade even his thought process. And he knew that his extended search to identify the female voice answering Bakugo's father's questions was beyond his directives. He should have been researching more ways to make Bakugo feel better. The last vital signs he'd registered from him had shown nervousness, annoyance and most of all, that never-ending tension in his entire frame.

::He needs more quiet and a lot more than making out::

Deku had already planned a few orders and was hoping to find time to pick up things and a proper place to hide them, because even after scanning the contents of the Bakugo's household, he'd surmised his master would blow a couple blood vessels if he was to borrow anything from their parents to supply to their… hormone-relieving activities.

As a recreative unit, Deku came with his own bank account that could cover for basic needs. He just needed more time to plan the perfect occasion to discreetly collect the items he'd ordered, and the place where he would hide them until the moment arrived. He had already run a dozen scenarios -hundreds of them were unnecessary seeing the level of predictability that Bakugo showed with his bevahior- and there had been a single case with a happy ending. Which meant no threats of blowing up any of his protruding parts.

"He does bark a lot but is far softer than he lets on…"

::Why am I still saying things out loud?:: Deku wondered.

Run scan of central processors?

::No, I'm running fine. I'm running great::

He accessed ten different networks, starting his searches and cutting them off midway as he pondered what he was doing wrong.

Self-discovery is impossible.

::That's not what I'm doing. I have a purpose. I just want answers to my master's query::

Katsuki had asked why they'd made him the way he was. That question lingered with him. Haunting every process. Every wandering thought. Every minute he had to think to himself. And he could basically skip on sleep while Bakugo snored next to him and think for hours on end. He liked to be already in full function when Katsuki would inevitably wake up from a nightmare. Otherwise, his parts would move on their own. Giving comfort was very deeply programmed into him. And there were gestures that came too easily. The hugs and embraces. The kisses. He was addicted to it all.

Anomaly detec…

"Oh, shut it," he admonished his auto-diagnostic unit, digging his index finger into the round lens turning yellowish now.

He started up another search. This time, he looked for Katsuki's files. Credit card histories, internet searches, public conversations on social media, the mobile data on the different phones he'd had. The amount of data a person was… He could fit it all on a single drive and had spaces for many more. Yet, this data seemed… precious. There were police files and he had already read the reports. He could find a complete copy of one of his psychologists' analysis on him, and that he refused to read.

His programs were enough to understand and after all… Everything he'd seen and heard directly from Bakugo until now…. None of that was hiding in either of those files. There were a few newspaper articles mentioning the Bakugos' name. Deku had scanned the titles in a matter of seconds. For some reason he couldn't quite explain, he liked going back to those. Something in his older memory sticks seemed to resonate.

And he was also curious about the more recent clip of the news. It dated from nearly 12 years ago. Twelve years. Now that sounded like an eternity. Every time he'd pulled it up, there was a strange glitch, but he was an obstinate android, for some reason, whoever had ordered him thought it was best to have him this way.

 _Trespass turned tragic_

The lines following seemed to blur and Deku closed his eyes to focus, feeling a frantic sensation in his limbs. Like an itch beneath his nails. Under his skin. He nearly raised one hand to scratch his scalp, but that was illogic and counter-productive.

Trespass turned tragic… Twelve years ago, Bakugo was a six-year-old boy with no business going anywhere dangerous, but Deku could imagine the boy was still _Bakugo_ back then. The tragic part hadn't been for Bakugo or his family, although their name was the only one mentioned. And Deku wasn't stupid, he had collected everything Bakugo had said, even the stuff he had started saying and stopped mid-sentence. There had been someone in his past. Someone who'd left an impression on him. Someone who's identity was clearly hidden from him for some reason.

He'd gone through his elementary and middle school papers to scan the names of classmates. His system nearly failed every time and those recurring bugs were starting to drive his diagnosis software up a wall. If he needed to be fixed, he would get the proper components and set it all up. He only needed to know who that person was who had been standing next to Bakugo in the class picture from twelve years ago. For some reason, that picture had been altered on every single copy he could get his sensors on. By a simple process of elimination, he should be able to find out what was actually going on, but it seemed the elusive kid had been erased from existence.

After one incident around dinner time at Bakugo's house, Deku had had another "absence" where he'd forgotten the fifteen minutes preceding the incident. Deku needed to know the trigger, because it was obviously going to happen again. Katsuki had been just as distressed as the last time, nearly throwing explosions at his mother, who almost apologized while barking back at him with all her might. He seriously thought Masaru would collapse at some point from how pale and green he'd looked.

Green. Green had to be the clue in all this. Otherwise, why would Bakugo be so obsessed with his hair and the green freckles on his face? Of course, a customized android could come with any hair, eye, or skin color. But he was growing a little more certain everyday that it wasn't the Bakugos who had ordered him. He had been crafted down to the smallest freckle with someone else in mind. His quirk-like capabilities…

He still couldn't access them at will, not unless Bakugo or himself were in a dangerous situation. Katsuki had asked him what were the limits of those dark threads of energy he could use like whips or extra limbs. What they needed to do was to agree on a training regimen and go out vigilanting more, but Bakugo had been focusing on planning instead.

"I'd be the worst droid if I objected to being prudent..."

Just thinking of every reason behind Bakugo's nightmares had Deku's search engine looking for ways to prevent shivering. He knew so many tricks now to comfort people, down to everyday messages that were supposed to make things better. Words he wouldn't use. He'd tried writing to Bakugo while he was in class and the freakout that had followed had convinced him that whenever they were apart, he was supposed to go radio silent.

An internal chime had him jumping slightly, followed by a text message from Katsuki.

::That's… that's unexpected::

 _Meet me up at the corner of Way and Fry-day's Street in five._

Deku hung his head at the blatant command.

"Shouldn't wonder if he missed me."

Why process it then?

::Just archive the thought::

His processor tried. And failed.

…

Bakugo made it a point to be four late minutes late. He really, _really_ didn't want Deku to believe he was eager to see him after being away for a mere two hours. He was already mad at himself for even feeling this eager to see the damn android. Around this hour, the green-haired thing would pester him about doing some of his homework or Bakugo would pin him to the mattress of his bed to avoid his questions and plans, and also push away his own guilt.

 _Not very healthy, but I doubt I ever was…_ the dirty blond mentally sighed.

"Hi Katsu…!"

"Oi, Deku," Bakugo cut him off, biting the inside of his cheek to make sure he wouldn't show any reaction to the use of his first name.

"Everything went well with Kirishima? You two didn't drink any alcoholic beverages, right?"

Seeing the lecture coming, Bakugo rolled his eyes at him.

"We had fizzy drinks, I keep my fake IDs for police encounters," he barked at him in a lower voice, the semi-discretion earning him a smile.

"I should record you half the time. There's only a 0.008 % chance I hear you say fizzy again in the next six months."

"Shut up!" Bakugo hissed, Deku retorting with a record of his "shut up!" played in low speed. Two passerbys looked up, and Bakugo grumbled something about being an attention seeker, grabbing Deku's wrist and pulling him along.

He knew the droid could resist if he wanted, he was still trying to understand just how far his strength went, but Deku was happy to follow him, pushing his luck to try and hold his hand, Bakugo giving off a startled sound, but roughly closing his fingers around Deku's.

Hell, they'd held hands as kids and girls could do it without getting in trouble, if anyone called them names, he'd blast them away in a heartbeat.

 _Except this was Izuku and_ _ **this**_ _now is not him,_ he reminded himself for the nth time.

::Bakugo is growing tense::

"Are we headed home?" Deku asked him, careful of keeping up with him and not pulling on his arm.

Bakugo tsked, walking a little faster.

"We gotta do some shopping first."

Deku followed quietly, both of them realizing how awkward it could be to hold hands while maneuvering more crowded sidewalks. Bakugo would usually have Deku trailing after him, but since the droid panic attack, he was a little more worried about him. And this small contact felt safe and familiar in the overwhelming world they both had to face. The more people there were around him, the tenser Bakugo would grow, Deku wishing he was equipped to inject calming drugs for the tenth time this month. It could be pheromones, it could be aromatherapy, he didn't really care, as long as it would help. Instead, he gave Bakugo's hand a squeeze and awkwardly stepped closer as the young man pulled him to a halt.

They were in front of a fabric store.

"Oh, oh! Are we…?"

"Don't blow a fuse, tin man," Bakugo half-teased him, half-mocked him. "I'm not making you a costume, but you're gonna need one. And actual clothes."

"You'll let me use the sewing machine?!"

They'd programmed _it_ to sound ecstatic and he wanted to punch someone because the sparks in his green eyes were making his heart clench and soar at the same time. Then his actual words registered and Bakugo realized this meant letting Deku enter his father's sacred domain. He grimaced as he could see how his mother might react.

 _Playing doll and dress up with your Deku copy, huh?_

"That's not what I'm fucking doing!" he hissed at no one in particular, Deku taking his hand back, his shoulders lowering a notch.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, that's not…!" Katsuki heaved a deep sigh, holding back on a growl. "You need a costume, I just don't want to be the one designing it. It's a hassle."

Deku noted the way he swallowed and the shortness of his breath as he defended himself. His master was always falling on the defensive when they talked for extended periods.

"Is it the crowd around us making you nervous, or just this conversation?" Deku asked him.

Bakugo's hands turned to fists, his teeth showing, Deku unable to avoid worrying about what all that scrunching up could do to his lips.

"I'm being fucking patient with you, Deku, so don't push me."

"If you were more direct, I would ask fewer questions and less patience would be needed," the droid noted, earning himself a growl.

"Come on, before I change my mind."

As they entered the boutique, Deku was once more witness to a few fellow androids greeting Bakugo and completely ignoring him. There was not a single human being inside the place, most people having their droids pick whatever item they needed. They browsed a few options, Deku being inexplicably drawn to green fabrics. Bakugo ordered him to pick something black to go with it, and when Deku showed him a sketch of his rough draft, the dirty blond caught himself on a display, his mind reeling.

The green was expected, after all, this was as close to what Deku would have liked, but the sharp lines were sending him years into the past. As kids, Izuku and him had drawn what their hero costumes would have looked like if they were to ever make it into the hero world. He remembered the silly ears on Izuku's hoodie.

" _For All-might!" his friend had said with that wide, wide smile._

"Katsuki?" Deku asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" Bakugo nearly lashed at him, clearing his throat and realizing even that sounded threatening. "No, it's a shitty design, but it's not…"

How many people had Izuku shown this drawing? Outside of his own family and his best friend? Had the droid scanned Bakugo's entire room, down to the thin cardboard box he kept wedged between two textbooks, with the few things Izuku had given him back then.

He still remembered how his mother had asked him to collect every little thing he still had from his deceased friend. A forgotten sock, an All Might figurine with Izuku's initials under the left foot, a book of scribbling on hero facts, a tech toy missing a few pieces, drawings, and the black All Might hoodie the boys had won at a carnival. His mother had wanted to give them back to Midoriya Inko, to help with her grief. Katsuki had collected all the things and hidden them in the same box, only giving back the sock and a wooden button that might have been his to begin with. Even at six years old, maybe especially then, he'd needed to keep the reminders Izuku had existed.

In the past 12 years, he'd opened the box only once, and if Deku the android had scanned it or even went through its contents, he wasn't sure what he'd do.

Back in the present, Deku looked dejected and started erasing his sketch.

"Wait, I didn't say…!"

"It's bad, so I can try something else," the robot offered. "Something practical. A visor would look cooler, right?"

 _It would. Might even look hot, but that would hide your eyes…_

Oh fuck, he was so far gone already.

"We should tweak the first design," he started, leaning closer to add "a vigilante has to be a tad edgier."

"Can it still have a hoodie?"

Now the droid was almost pouting and Bakugo was surprised to hear buzzing from around them. Throwing a glance over their shoulder, they realized the two droids in the store were staring intently at their exchange. The blue light on one of them was flashing to yellow.

"We don't need help!" Bakugo shouted at them, giving them the finger, ignoring Deku's indignant gasp at the gesture. "Come on, let's wrap this up."

Deku was a bit ashamed that his master invested over two hundred bucks on the material needed for his suit, but Bakugo insisted that he would rather have him stay incognito then deal with the shit of him being spotted. Midoriya's mother had been inconsolable and hearing that even a copy of her son was a vigilante would most certainly break her. Bakugo also hoped the tweaks could be enough to fool even Todoroki. He didn't want to see the guy again, but the risks were high.

…

It took a bit more arguing to agree on a design. All Bakugo really wanted was to somehow alter the original design _his_ Izuku had drawn, since it would feel too wrong to make one for this _version_ of him. He was running away, but every effort he could make at hiding it would be brought out.

Then a lazy afternoon in his room had him facing reality after this little extended dream phase.

It had started innocently enough. He was coming back from a training session with Kirishima, which was half the truth, Bakugo having met his friend to go over their plan on infiltrating Cyberlife once again. There was only one factory in the region making on-demand droids, every other producing the chain brand of housewives, sex toys, child dolls and legged land mowers. Cracking down files of a cybernetic, fully sentient walking prosthetics was not going to be a piece of cake and Bakugo knew for a fact Deku would have been the perfect candidate for the job. But he didn't want to make him cry another time, or reset from overwhelming information he was programmed to forget.

Deku had been designed to look like Izuku Midoriya and that couldn't be a coincidence that he had a failsafe erasing his most recent memories whenever he would hear that name. He hadn't told his parents of it, all of the Bakugos were exceedingly careful of avoiding the subject of Izuku altogether. Neither his mother nor his father ever mentioned Inko either, so that had to mean they weren't seeing her anymore like they had done in the past.

But steering back to that innocent afternoon. The planning was coming together, but he forced himself to push any plan far away when he was met with Deku's puzzled look as he'd walked into the room. He had no way of checking the various searches Deku had been running while waiting for him to come back. The poor thing couldn't just sit down and watch a movie, when he decided to absorb any kind of entertainment, he could simply download it entirely and replay any pieces of pictures of it to himself. Deku had archived a lot of things in a folder he'd called "development mistakes".

"You knew there's fanfiction on All Might?! I've just deleted enough words to fill…"

"Oh my god! HOW can you _still_ be such a nerd?!"

The droid frowned, repeating the word bothering him the most " **still**?"

"Fuck. How about you delete that too?" Bakugo sighed, heading for his desk where he'd left Deku's vigilante suit. It was almost complete, and he'd been pushing it back only because completing it meant going back out in the streets with the robot on his heels.

"No. I'm tired of being kept in the dark."

"Well, it's that or more of your hard resets, so we'll pass."

Deku grimaced and Bakugo made it a point to ignore him.

"Wanna try on your suit?" he offered, pulling the fabric out of his desk.

"Very effective distraction," Deku congratulated him. "I wish such deflection tactics would work on you."

Bakugo eyed him with a questioning look, Deku shrugging off his pants and t-shirt as though the clothes were on fire, taking the suit from him. His eagerness was cute He started with the top, clearly eager to adjust the hoodie and try on the visor. Which left his lower half quite exposed, Bakugo noticing how pale and pink the skin of his thighs looked.

 _Bad thought, bad thought, look up to…_

"I'm Deku!" the droid claimed, raising a gloved fist in front of him, his hoodie and visor fully adjusted, his shoulders thrown back at full length. Was he really that large? Bakugo could see the muscles in his arms. Metal fiber, he reminded himself, but his nostrils still flared, his blood rushing south.

"The pants, Deku, strike a pause after putting everything on at least."

Clearing his throat, his blush mostly hidden by his dark and green visor, Deku hurriedly grabbed the pants and tried to pull them on quickly, only to realize they were a lot tighter than he'd expected.

"What kind of fabric is…?"

"Hero suits are like that," Bakugo heard himself shot back.

Had he unconsciously made the pants a size too small? he wondered, wishing he could mentally blow himself up for the nth time.

Why would he even do that?

"No they're not, Kirishima's suit…"

"I'll help you, there's no way these are that tight," Katsuki cut him off, stepping around him so he could stand with his chest to Deku's back. He pulled on the droid's hips without thinking, leaning his head over his shoulder.

"I… I can do it myself," Deku objected.

But despite the strange alarms his system was processing, his sensors were attracted to the notion Bakugo's breathing was getting quicker. As was his pulse. And his blood circulation was faster too. The blond's hands undid the buttons he'd put on the side of the pants, hidden with fabric to allow for a better adjustment and less discomfort. He pulled the waistband up, his fingertips grazing up warm, freckled skins and stroking past the fabric of his boxers. Something was swelling in his chest as he registered what he was doing, but Bakugo pushed past it. He was tired of being the one getting embarrassed. He was tired of being taken by surprise, of feeling like he didn't know what to do while Deku took the lead and gave him an illusion of control.

"There, close it on the right."

Deku obeyed, Bakugo rebuttoning the left side and giving the fabric a tug to make sure the sewing was falling right. His hands wanted to cup that taunt ass he'd seen just once, but he bit his tongue, clapping the side of Deku's thighs instead.

"Seems to fit just right, huh?"

The droid stepped away from his master, shifting on his feet, the nervousness radiating from him as he whirled around. He could sense the tension in the air, and for once, it didn't feel dramatic. It was warm. So he smiled, leaning his head to one side, catching his reflection in Bakugo's eyes.

"Do I look good?"

Katsuki swallowed, the words rushing to that pulse he couldn't fight and to the growing need he felt deep down. This shouldn't have happened like this. It shouldn't be a robot in that suit and maybe it shouldn't have been him making said suit in the first place, and yet he felt like this was one step.

Izuku had dreamed of this. Izuku had wanted to become a hero above everything else. And somehow, in a twisted, deranged way, Bakugo was giving that to his best friend.

"Fucking good," the dirty blond declared, his voice hoarser than he'd expected. "Take off the visor."

He wanted to see his face, not just his shy, boyish smile. He wanted to fool himself and think this was _his_ Izuku for real. But as always, Deku had to do things his way. So instead, he pulled off his shirt, managing to keep the visor on, his hair wild and his chest raising and falling back a little too quickly for comfort. He dropped the top of his suit and the padded gloves on the floor, appraising how Bakugo would react. His red eyes were fixed on him, not a brow twitching, not a single nerve jumping, his mouth hanging open slightly.

::Arousal is at 60 %. His pupils are wide, wide::

"Do you…" Deku let his voice falter, unsure if it was conscious or a default in his program, catching himself with his master's name, "Katsuki… Do you like me?"

"What do you fucking mean, do I…?"

Deku's hands were on his shoulders before he could blink, his smell invading his vital space, and Bakugo knew this was mostly his own shampoo, but there was also something else, something the factory had managed to recreate so well, he almost wanted to cry. Instead he inhaled deeply, wondering how much of this was himself tricking his own, faulty memory.

"I'm all snug and tight in here," Deku insisted, pulling Bakugo into a hug, chest to chest and… boner to boner.

::He wants you, he actually wants you:: was all the droid could process.

Meanwhile, Bakugo was not processing this. They had messed around, he had held his hand, he wanted to kiss him all over, to get the pants off him so he could be snug and tight between him and a wall or the mattress or any surface that could hold both of them, but that was too fast, that was too much, that was insane.

"You don't talk like that."

"I just _did_." Deku objected. "Tell me what you really want from me. It doesn't have to be sex."

The fact Bakugo was not pulling away was all the encouragement he needed and as much as the human next to him wanted to keep this hero suit clean, he had gotten himself too excited just seeing Deku shrugging off his clothes. So he pushed the visor off, discovering the fact Deku was blushing while his gaze held his with a determination that egged him on even more. Bakugo looked between them, where the fabric of their pants stretched up, unable to hide either of their states.

"Can you do this on command or…?"

"No, no, I'm… I can't access those files right now, I'm sorry," Deku admitted, looking sheepish.

"Why? That your version of being flustered?"

"Maybe? What about you, Katsuki? You're blushing."

Deku was teasing him now, but his intent was clear. The droid wanted him to be the instigator.

"This has to be…"

Deku moved his hips again, gasping as Katsuki finally gave in, grabbing his waist and pushing him against the closest wall. The first kiss was too harsh, teeth against lips, but Deku didn't care, he never did, not when it meant he could get this level of attention.

This wasn't supposed to be in your program. This is wrong, he keeps telling you it is.

 _::It doesn't feel wrong. It makes my batteries go…::_

The heartbeat in his chest was too fast, too loud, but as his hands clasped behind Bakugo's neck and brushing against his back, he felt the young man's own heart going at a thundering rhythm. And his needy sigh against his lips told him all he needed to know.

"Fuck, Deku, in how many ways are you going to drive me insane?"

"As many as it takes to make you sane again?" the droid offered, more words on his tongue, but Katsuki shut him up with a kiss, still rough, but gentler somehow, relishing the muffled moan that came up Deku's throat.

Their noses were about ready to be crushed together, but neither of them minded the pressure, they wanted the closeness, the friction, Deku's legs parting, Katsuki gasping as their erections brushed through the fabric still between them.

"Skin on skin?" Deku suggested.

The grunt Katsuki made was a broken, pitiful sound, but he didn't resist as the droid tugged on his shirt, pulling back just enough to help him with taking off the garment, his eyes wild, his breath uneven. Deku wanted to tease him, but Katsuki grabbed both of his wrists, pushing his arms on either side of him, pressing himself into the other teen, missing his mouth to kiss at the corner of his jaw, then back to his lips.

"Tell me what I can do," Deku insisted in between kisses.

"Hold me. Touch my hair."

 _Like I'm precious. Like you know me._

Deku whined, flushing as Katsuki cupped his face with one hand, slipping one arm behind his back to have him even closer. He was nibbling at his lower lip now, the readings for his arousal still going up, and yet shifting around. As Deku reached for his hair, cupping the back of his head, the shivers he sensed from his master were only half good.

 _::Like me. Me, not whoever it is I'm supposed to replace::_

"Dek…"

His voice sounded like a question, like a demand for permission and the droid diagnosed his own annoyance quick enough to snap at the blond.

"I'm your doll, Katsuki, you can do what you…"

The hand on his jaw turned hard, Bakugo biting into his tongue, pulling back angrily.

"Not a doll, you're not…!"

His tone was shifting with emotion, Deku feeling a mix of guilt and puzzlement. Not that he couldn't understand. Bakugo was always, always worried he was faking things. He was far too gentle for someone with such a bad temper.

"You made me clothes," Deku objected.

"That's not… Fuck, Deku, I don't want a doll to play dress-up with!"

"We can play other things."

Katsuki had more objections to raise, like the fact his life was no fucking game, but Deku's hand was on the back of his neck, pulling him down and while it wasn't as strong as it could be, he didn't want to stop.

 _Play pretend._

He closed his eyes, forcing back any good or bad memories, anything that could weigh him down. His neck was tensed, his shoulders aching, Deku pressing his forehead against his.

"Focus on me. On this. It's so strong, it's almost painful, but isn't it good?"

Another roll of those hips, another teasing stroke, not enough and yet too much, Katsuki licking his lips, wondering why his mouth tasted more like mint than metal.

"Mint?" Deku repeated, having him realizing he'd asked his question out loud. "Are you sure?"

"Guess I need to check again," Katsuki complied to his little game, erasing whatever space was left, making sure this kiss was softer, as soft as he'd kissed Izuku if this was him.

The thought cracked the shell around his heart, but what made the pieces fall was the violent thud of his door being pushed open, both of them parting at the violent intrusion.

"Katsu…! What the fuck are you doing?"

Bakugo's shoulders drew inward, his head lowering a notch, hands shaking by his sides. His mother had just walked in on them and that wasn't a smile on her face, that wasn't even her teasing, full-on-bully face.

"My job as a grieving unit is to…"

"Shut up!" Katsuki cut him off, looking at his mother with hellfire in his eyes. "Can't you fucking knock, old hag?!"

"This is my goddamn house and we gave you a locking door, so if you don't want me walking in, just lock your fucking door, you stupid…!"

"I don't care!"

"Clearly you don't, look at you go!" she couldn't help herself, her eyes sticking to Deku, who nervously looked at his feet, his hands joined in front of him.

"What?" Katsuki's voice cracked and he couldn't clear his throat, everything was too tight all of a sudden. "What the fuck does that mean?"

Mitsuki had wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes going from one teenager to the next.

"This is not why we… Deku, are you fine with…?"

"Mrs. Bakugo, I… I was one who took off both of our shirts," the droid stated, stuttering a bit and lowly blaming a defect in his program, Bakugo's hands finally turning into fists.

She was worried about that _thing_? She was worried more about a machine than…

"I'm that much of a lost cause, you're just going to make sure the _robot_ is fine with this?!"

"I'm not sorry for not expecting fucking cosplay sex under my roof!"

His pupils were so small with sheer rage, Deku had to hack his diagnosis system to convince it Bakugo was not terminally high on something.

"Get the fuck out, you… you…!"

There were many names he wanted to call her right now, so many he could barely pick one that carried all of his resentment. Mistuki grabbed him by a fistful of hair, dragging him out, barking at the droid to stay put. Her readings were strange, mixed between anger and something similar to the permanent guilt of her son.

The door closed shut behind the pair, leaving Deku alone and dejected, his sensors raising in capacity to follow what they might be saying about him. If he'd done something wrong, he needed to know what so it wouldn't happen again.

Past the hallway and into the living room, Katsuki finally managed the nerve to push off his mother, the names spilling out in a vicious stream, Mitsuki ignoring every last one of them.

"What are you thinking?!" she snapped at him.

"What's so wrong with me, huh?"

"Where do I begin!" she grunted, catching the pain flashing through his eyes despite the overwhelming anger.

"Fuck off! You _bought_ him! Do you hear what I'm saying, old hag? You fucking bought something looking like Izuku as though I was not…! You insisted I stick around him. And now I'm the sick monster?"

"Katsu-kun…"

Oh that was bad. That was the pet name she'd used whenever she felt soft and gentle with him, and he couldn't handle that. There were knives in his throat, his eyes felt too dry and he couldn't let tears come, not in front of her, not when she was blaming him for this. His hands were sweaty, too sweaty, and the first spark had them both jumping, Mitsuki shaking her head at him.

"You're not a fucking monster."

"So I am sick," he managed, the bark in his voice a shudder and the tremble in his frame making him curse and lit more sparks as though they could keep her away.

"Katsuki, look at me. You're not… Goddammit, I don't wanna see you self-destruct, is that so hard to understand?!"

He glared at her, lips pulled back to bare his teeth, words coming up that scared him, because asking if she hated him or not would mean being weak when he was already… She knocked on his head with her fist, hard enough for him to flinch away, the tears welling up and if he'd been younger, he would have headbutted her to make his point but… She was silently telling him he was wrong. Surely wrong in every way he could think of. Why else would he hold on to the pretense and feel comfort _and_ that out of place happiness to have a droid Deku around?

"Don't hit me," he hacked over the sobs he felt inside, swatting at her wrist, his hands curling and shaking as he thought of everything he'd been through lately.

The nightmares. A fake Izuku calling himself his walking computer and sticking to him like a second shadow. The sludge villain killing people. Moonfish eating people into dice of human flesh. Todoroki's rightful disgust. And then the sludge everywhere and Deku's arms desperately trying to hold him together.

"Katsu-kun…"

"I don't want your shitty sympathy, mom!"

Now she was opening her arms and he couldn't run, although he feared how she'd used this against him. He knew she was worried in her own, strange, volatile way. He knew she was rough because it hurt to see him like this. They were too similar for their own good, but when she turned gentle, it made him panic even more.

"You're having an anxiety attack, baby."

"Fuck off, I told you to…!"

His voice cracked again, harder, the fissures running too far, the well of pain and darkness ready to pull him deeper within its void.

"I'm worried about you. I'm fucking worried and look at you, I just…"

She wanted to give him a hug, but he pulled away, backing himself into a wall, his fists damp with sweat, the smell too strong to be ignored, his shaking the only thing preventing him from blowing up the house.

 _Stay in check, do the number thing, you're not dying, you're already dead inside, you're going to wake up, hit your dumb head on something and fucking wake up, you wreck!_

She raised her hands, keeping them open, her frown replaced with an expression that was almost new on her face. And as he finally processed why her mouth was so harsh, why her chin was jutting out and why her shoulders were so high, he realized it had been her normal around him for years now. She was scared. She was terrified. And the knowledge turned the churning ache in his chest into a gaping wound.

"Isn't it too late to worry?" he tried lashing out.

"You're not a lost cause," she objected, worrying her lower lip as she remembered what he'd asked her earlier. "There's nothing wrong with being attracted to guys…"

Why did she have to be so _**infuriating**_?

"I'm not into men! And no, I'm not into women either, I don't care about that stupid stuff, I just…" Bakugo blinked, breathing hard. "All I want is Izuku, mom. Now you tell me, how fucked up is that?!"

His hands grabbed at his hair, pulling on it again, the sparks dying out as Mitsuki's fear was replaced with genuine concern.

"Oh. Oh Katsuki, that's not fucked up at all."

"But you said…"

"I'm sorry. It's… You don't know everything, you don't see what I see."

"Well, tell me whatever the fuck it is you know I don't!"

"I can't! I'll make it worse, you know I'm bad at this."

Oh no, now she was crying too.

"I hate this, mom. It hurts and I'm crying all the fucking time.

"You're depressed and burned out."

"Oh, shut up! Why are you crying?"

He felt like he was the one holding her up now and it wasn't fair, but then again, it was the first time in years since they were having a real talk.

"I'm not crying, you're crying!"

"So are you, old hag!"

They might have actually blown stuff up if Masaru hadn't arrived then, teary-eyed at the very sight of them and joining the hug. His presence effectively calmed down what was left of Mitsuki's rage while Katsuki felt like he could finally be understood. They were a collective mess of a family and there was no comment revisiting why this strange reunion had started, why their teenager was shirtless or why Mitsuki couldn't stop apologizing now that she'd said it once. Masaru knew this had to be related to Deku. When his son hid his face against his shoulders and gruffly apologized for being a sick mess, he was certain.

It took a good half hour for both the mother and son to calm down, Masaru asking with a shivering voice:

"Should we tell him why we did this, Mistuki?"

"What?" his voice managed, her voice hoarse from crying for too long.

"You mean Deku?!" Katsuki understood.

"Yeah. I know it's driving you mad. I know it doesn't feel right. But you see…"

"You can't tell him!" Mistuki cut him off, the worry in her voice making Katsuki frown a little more.

Thankfully, Masaru held his ground.

"Deku was… _developed_ for a very long time. Inko didn't ask for it at the start, it was some side-project someone did and then they convinced her to invest in it, and how couldn't she?"

Katsuki looked at him with wide eyes, breathing even harder now. That couldn't be right.

"What the hell? How long have you known?!"

"Not long," his mother assured him. "Inko felt awful, but they gave her no choice. When he was finished, they needed someone to… take him in."

"And she wouldn't?!"

"She's his mother."

And what am I to him? He wanted to scream back, but his voice was stuck in his throat, his father rubbing his hair.

"The company threatened to trash him if no one bought him. Inko couldn't bear the idea…"

Katsuki pushed him away at that, his heart clenching and twitching, his anger rushing back, but larger, against the entire world.

"You're telling me they blackmailed her into… You're telling me some insane people just go off making up robot version of dead kids for profit and toy around with people like…"

His parents were both paler than ghosts and he was livid.

"They're untouchable, Katsuki. Even the army couldn't…"

"Why couldn't you just tell me?!"

"We were worried you'd try to scrap him yourself if we told you so right away. And the poor thing needs a purpose. I just didn't think it would be getting in your pants!"

Now it was Masaru's turn to look surprised, while Katsuki decided he'd had enough. He went back to his room, locking the door shut and heaving the deepest sigh as he tried to collect his thoughts.

This was more answers than he'd asked for and yet not enough. No one would even start such a project without a guarantee of funding. Looking up, he found Deku sitting on the floor, his hands pressed over his ears, his frame rocking back and forth. Bakugo swallowed, realizing what had just happened.

Of course, Deku would have been listening in. Alone to process, alone to analyze, with no one to see if he cried. Yet his eyes were red and puffy, which meant tears had been among his reactions.

"Hey," he tried, sounding weak.

Deku gasped, putting his hands against the floor as though he'd been doing something bad.

"H…hey."

"Calm down, what… did something happen?"

"I heard something…" Deku started, shaking his head as though he wanted to push the thought away. "I had another reboot. I think twice in a row. I don't know why I'm half-naked? I don't know why… I'm sorry, I shouldn't be scared, I was programmed like this for a reason, I just…"

"No."

Deku's brows rose in surprise, Bakugo kneeling in front of him and leaning forward, till their foreheads touched.

"Wh… what did I…?"

"No," the blond repeated, exhaling sharply. "You did nothing wrong. I think your program is stupid and I want you to stay impulsive. I want you to smile. To tell me what you're thinking."

He was blushing and it didn't look blue under his skin, but the room was getting dark, so it might have been a trick of the light.

"Katsuki…?"

"I won't let you reboot again."

Deku shivered, unsure how to treat this promise. His recognition algorithms were temporarily fried, his consciousness felt hazy and his eyes were making new tears, although it was different from waking up alone after a violent reboot.

"You don't have to protect me. It's my main prerogative to…"

"NO!" Bakugo shut him off. "Listen to me. Humans get to pick their purpose. And you look human, you act human."

"But I'm not…!"

"I don't fucking care anymore! You're what I got, okay? You're what I get to have, and I won't let anything take you away."

 _Not again._

"Katsuki, I'm scared. I don't want to be a hindrance or something you hide in a glass case."

"I know that. And you need to put me back in my place if I… You need to keep challenging me like you've been doing, you get me?"

Deku nodded, his hands cupping Katsuki's face, gently, tenderly.

"Can we still kiss?"

The smile the dirty blond gave him was so fragile, surely touching his lips would shatter him.

"Let me closer. We can always kiss."

They did, sealing the promise between them, both of them ignoring how far the lies ran, how deep the cruelty had reached.

Bakugo knew he needed to bring to light the reasons behind Deku's creation more than ever. And Deku knew he had to protect his master with everything he had, unless he wanted to hear him sob like this again. Despite all the reboots, that sound was stuck in his mind, along with his own crying, even though he'd forgotten every silent cry he'd uttered.

To be continued…

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And the plot thickens! Muhahahaha. Poor boys. Bakugo was really soft in this chapter, but I don't think he turned too ooc? He's going through such ordeals and it's one blow after the next. And it's only chapter 6 of this, good lord. Next chapter, vigilante team up and more


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